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AMBROISE  PARE 

AND  HIS  TIMES 


1510-1590 


J 


BY 

STEPHEN  PAGET 


"  Doncques  je  vous  prie  humblemcnt  prendre  en  gre  ce  petit  labeur  r 
lequel  si  je  cognois  vous  estre  agreable,  m'  esforcerai  faire  aultre 
chose,  selon  que  mon  petit  esprit  pourra  comprendre . " — A.  P. 


ILLUSTRATED 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  &  LONDON 
Cbe  Unicfterbocfter  press 

1897 


-yj<j?;?5'^ 


Copyright  1897 

BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London 


Ube  iknickerbocfcec  press,  flew  ISorft 


To 

SIR   THOMAS  SMITH 

SURGEON   EXTRAORDINARY    TO    HER    MAJESTY   THE    QUEEN 
SENIOR   SURGEON  TO   ST.    BARTHOLOMEW'S   HOSPITAL 

I  Dedicate  in  Gratitude 

This  Story  of  the  Life  of  Another 

Great  Surgeon 


PREFACE. 


EVEN  though  a  book  goes  over  old  ground,  it 
may  yet  be  welcome  ;  and  Ambroise  Fare's 
life  was  so  full  of  good  works,  adventure,  and  ro- 
mance, that  it  ought  to  be  known  and  honoured  in 
other  countries  besides  France.  Therefore  I  have 
put  these  notes  together,  conveying  into  them  the 
facts  that  have  been  established  by  Malgaigne, 
Le  Paulmier,  and  other  authors.  We  seldom  hear 
his  name  in  England  :  save  that  it  is  sometimes 
said  he  invented  the  ligature  of  arteries,  which  he 
did  not;  or  he  is  mentioned  in  a  First  of  October 
address  to  medical  students;  as  was  the  fate  of 
Hannibal  in  Juvenal's  time — "  Ut  pueris  placeas  et 
declam.atio  fias. "  Such  an  address,  perfect  of  its 
kind,  given  in  1889  by  Mr.  Godlee  at  University 
College  Hospital,  set  me  to  work  on  this  present 
venture. 

To  Malgaigne,  who  edited  Park's  works  in  1840, 
and  to  MM.  Le  Paulmier,  B6gin,  and  Turner  we 
owe  our  knowledge  of  the  details  of  his  life.     Dr. 


vi  Preface 

Le  Paulmier,  himself  descended  from  that  Julien 
Le  Paulmier  who  had  a  controversy  with  Pare  about 
gunshot  wounds,  has  published  a  whole  host  of  valu- 
able documents;  parish  registers,  law  reports,  trans- 
fers of  property,  minutes  of  meetings,  lists  of  the 
Royal  household,  and  the  like.  From  these,  and 
from  his  own  writings,  we  may  almost  know  Am- 
broise  Pare  as  if  he  were  living  now. 

By  help  of  text-books  of  history,  and  the  memoirs 
of  Pierre  de  L'Estoile,  I  have  made  a  sort  of  back- 
ground of  the  times  in  which  his  fourscore  years 
were  spent,  I  had  intended  to  set  the  Journeys  in 
Diverse  Places  at  the  beginning  of  this  book,  making 
the  rest  of  it  a  commentary  upon  them ;  but  it 
seemed  better,  after  all,  to  give  them  their  proper 
place  in  the  story  of  his  life.  Yet  they,  of  course, 
are  the  one  thing  here  to  be  read  again  and  again. 

Mr.  Pater's  Gaston  de  Latour  contains  many  ex- 
quisite pictures  of  France  and  of  Paris,  as  Ambroise 
Pare  saw  his  country.  But  Gaston  himself,  while 
he  recalls  Ambroise's  patient,  the  Marquis  D'Auret, 
is  no  more  like  Pare  than  my  sentences  are  like  the 
beauty  of  Mr.  Pater's  work. 

By  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Le  Paulmier,  I  am  allowed 
to  reproduce  the  portrait  and  the  autograph  signa- 
ture from  his  delightful  book.  The  portrait,  in 
the  possession  of  Mme.  La  Marquise  Le  Charron, 


Preface 


Vll 


a  descendant  of  one  of  Fare's  daughters,  was  painted 
when  he  was  sixty-five :  the  signature  was  written 
on  a  receipt  for  some  money,  a  year  later.  The 
other  illustrations  are  from  Fare's  books,  from  old 
prints  in  the  British  Museum,  and  from  M.  Martial's 
Ancie7i  Paris.  I  hope  that  Mr.  G.  H.  Futnam  is 
right  in  his  generous  belief  that  what  I  have  written 
is  worthy  of  so  many  pictures. 
London,  1897. 


CONTENTS. 

Introduction        .  ' 

I. — Boyhood  and  Early  Life.     1510-1541    , 

II. — "  Journeys  in  Diverse    Places."   1537- 
1569 

III. — Notes   to   the  "  Journeys  in    Diverse 
Places  "....., 

IV. — Paris.     1541-1572      .         .         ,         .         . 

v.— Paris.     1573-1590 

VI. — Opera  Omnia    ...... 

VII. — Some  Aspects  of  Pare's  Life 

VIII, — Pare's  Account  of  the  Plague 


PAGE 

I 


30 
118 

248 
265 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Portrait  of  Ambroise  Pare 


Frontispiece 


Reproduced,  with  the  permission  of  the  author,  from  Dr.  Le  Paulmier's 
"  Life  of  Pare." 

Le  Tour  du  Temple  ......         vi 

Constructed  in  1200  ;  destroyed  in  1811. 

Le  Boulevart  du  Temple,  in  1630    ,         .         .         i 
*  Pont  Neuf   ........       12 

"  Various  Cauteries      .         .         .         .         .         .26 

^  Instruments  of  General  Surgery   ...       36 
"^  Amputating  Instruments  .....       48 

'  Portrait,  Franqois  Due  de  Guise    ...       60 

From  a  print  by  Theret. 

"^  Various   Arrows    and    Detachable    Arrow- 
heads.             74 

^  Instruments  for    Extracting  Arrow-heads 

OR  Links  of  Chain-armour        ...  92 

^  Instruments  for  Extracting  Bullets    .         .  100 

°  Battle  of  Saint  Denis,  1567      ....  102 

^  Battle  of  Moncontour,  October  3,  1569  .         .  106 

'  Pont,  Quai,  et  Place  du  Pont  Saint  Michel,  158 

'  From  Martial's  "  Ancien  Paris." 

^  From  Fare's  Works. 

'  From  an  engraving  in  the  Print-Room,  British  Museum, 


Xll 


Illustrations 


Ancien  Pont  Saint  Michel 
Bird's-eye    View     of     Paris    Early    in    the 
XVIIth  Century 

Showing  Fare's  houses. 

Portrait  of  Henri  II  .         .         . 

Portrait  of  Catherine  de  Medici   . 

Portrait  OF  CoLiGNY  .... 

Le  Petit  Chatelet      .... 

Portrait  of  Charles  IX    . 

Hotel  des  Ursins,  1670 

Cage    d'Escalier    du    XVI'^^     Siecle  :      Rue 

Chanoinesse        .... 
Portrait  of  Henri  III 
Siege  of  Paris,  1590    .... 
College  de  Cluny  :  Rue  de  Cluny  . 
Reducing  a  Dislocation  of  the  Elbow 
Portrait  of  Ambroise  Par^  at  75    '. 

From  a  print  by  Horbeck. 

'  From  Martial's  "  Ancien  Paris." 

*  From  Fare's  Works, 

^  From  an  engraving  in  the  Print-Room,  British  Museum. 


PAGE 

i66 

174 

182 
186 
188 
192 
196 
208 

214 

224 
226 
248 
262 
266 


LIST  OF  CHIEF  REFERENCES. 


CEuvres  completes  d' Ambroise  Par^ :  revues  ct  colla- 
tionnes  siir  toiites  les  Editions.  J.  F.  Malgaigne, 
Paris,  1840.  Three  vols.,  with  a  critical  and 
historical  introduction  by  Malgaigne.     351  pp. 

The  Workes  of  that  Famous  Chiritrgion  A.  Parey, 
trans,  out  of  Latin  and  compared  with  the 
French.     T.  Johnson,  London,  1665.     Folio. 

Ambroise  Par^  d'apres  de  Nouveaux  Documents. 
Le  Paulmier,  Paris,  1884. 

Ambroise  Pare.  Emile  Begin,  Gaz.  Hebd.  de  Me'de- 
cine.  Paris,  Oct.,  1878-Jan.,  1879.  XV.,  629, 
645,  725. 

Ambroise  ParL  E.  Turner,  Gaz.  Hebd.  de  MMecine, 
May,  1879.     XVI.,  309,  399. 

Discourse  upon  the  Life  of  Ambroise  Par^.  S.  D. 
Gross,  Philadelphia,  1873. 

Ambroise  Par^,  est-il  mort  Catholique  ?  T.  Tr6v6dy, 
1890.     (British  Museum.) 

Extrait  de  F Lnd^pendant  de  V  Quest  (Laval). 

Mhnoires  pour  servir  a  Vhistoire  de  France,  etc. 
Pierre  de  L'Estoile,  Paris.     Edition  of  1819. 


xiv  List  of  Chief  References 


La  France  Protestante.  Eugene  and  Emile  Haag, 
Paris,  1846-59. 

Hist oir e  de  France.     Michelet,  Paris,  1876-78. 

Histoire  de  France.     Guizot,  Paris,  1870-76. 

Abr^g^  de  V Histoire  de  France.     Duruy,  Paris,  1851. 

Me'moires  de  Francois  de  la  None. 

Memoires  de  Marguerite  de  Valois. 

Ancien  Paris.     A.  P.  Martial,  Paris,  1866. 

Archives  Curieiises  de  V Histoire  de  France,  depuis 
Louis  XLjusqiCa  Louis  XVHL  L.  Cimber  and 
F.  Danjou.     Paris,  1835.     Series  I.,  vol.  5. 

Horribles  Cruaut^s  des  Huguenots  en  France.  Extrait 
d'un  volume,  intitule  "Theatre  des  Cruautes 
des  H6retiques  de  nostre  temps."  Anvers, 
chez  Adrien  Hubert,  1588.     (British  Museum.) 

Etudes  sur  Ambroise  Pare.  These  de  Montpellier. 
C.  M.  A.  Senelle,  Montpellier.  J.  M.  Aine,  1863. 
(British  Museum.) 


AMBROISE  PARE 


hi    s 


AMBROISE  PAR6 


INTRODUCTION. 

"  Thundering  and  bursting 
In  torrents,  in  waves — 
Carolling  and  shouting 

Over  tombs,  amid  graves — 
See  !  on  the  cumber'd  plain 

Clearing  a  stage, 
Scattering  the  past  about, 
Comes  the  new  age." 

Matthew  Arnold, 

MALGAIGNE,  in  his  long  and  learned  introduc- 
tion to  the  works  of  Ambroise  Par6,  has  said 
that  the  way  was  cleared  for  his  coming,  and  all 
Europe  seemed  waiting  and  watching  for  him.  But 
a  man  like  Pare  is  welcome  whenever  he  comes ;  nor 
are  we  here  concerned  with  the  history  of  surgery 
before  he  put  his  hand  to  it.  From  the  time  of 
Celsus,  it  was  for  the  most  part  a  history  of  decline 
and  fall :  the  Arabian  schools  had  set  tradition  and 
authority  above  observation  and  experiment ;  and  so 

I 


2  Ambroise  Pare 

long  as  the  Church  forbade  the  shedding  of  blood  to 
the  physicians,  surgery  was  kept  at  the  level  of  a 
low  unorganised  trade.  Those  who  did  great  things 
in  the  ^Middle  Ages  for  the  practice  of  surgery  may 
be  counted  on  one  hand :  Constantine  of  Salerno, 
Guillaume  de  Salicetis,  Lanfranc,  Guy  de  Chauliac; 
and  perhaps,  for  England,  John  of  Gaddesden  and 
John  Ardern.  And  Guy  de  Chauliac — whose  writ- 
ings were  expounded  to  Pare  during  his  apprentice- 
shio — was  a  man  after  Fare's  own  heart: — 


"  Let  the  surgeon  be  well  educated,  skilful,  ready,  and 
■courteous.  Let  him  be  bold  in  those  things  that  are 
safe,  fearful  in  those  that  are  dangerous  ;  avoiding  all 
evil  methods  and  practices.  Let  him  be  tender  with  the 
sick,  honourable  to  men  of  his  profession,  wise  in  his 
predictions  ;  chaste,  sober,  pitiful,  merciful  ;  not  covet- 
ous or  extortionate  ;  but  rather  let  him  take  his  wages 
in  moderation,  according  to  his  work,  and  the  wealth  of 
his  patient,  and  the  issue  of  the  disease,  and  his  own 
worth."  * 

The  service  that  these  few  great  men  did  for 
surgery  was  twofold :  they  made  a  stand  against 
the  Arabian  school,  against  Averroes  and  Avicenna, 
and  they  mostly  wrote  or  translated  in  their  mother- 
tongue,  endeavouring  to  return  past  tradition  to  the 
pure  teaching  of  Hippocrates.      Malgaigne  has  been 

*  From  the  Grande  Chirurgie  of  Guy  de  Chauliac,  written  in  1363, 
when  he  was  physician  to  Pope  Urban  V.  at  Avignon. 


Introduction  3 

careful  to  show  how  their  work,  long  after  they  were 
dead,  was  brought  to  life  again  by  the  invention  of 
printing,  the  discovery  of  the  New  World,  and  the 
return  of  the  Renaissance  to  Greek  art  and  manu- 
scripts : — 

"  The  hunt  for  Greek  manuscripts  was  started  on 
behalf  of  literature  and  theology  :  afterward  came  the 
turn  of  the  sciences.  A  copy  of  Celsus  was  found  in 
1443  at  Milan  ;  Paulus  ^gineta  also  was  discovered 
about  the  same  time  ;  finally,  several  Greek  manuscripts 
of  Hippocrates  and  of  Galen  were  unearthed.  Men 
could  now  set  the  writings  themselves  against  the  trans- 
lations and  commentaries  of  the  Arabians  :  Aristotle 
against  Averroes,  Galen  against  Avicenna.  The  com- 
mentator was  often  far  gone  from  the  sense  and  spirit  of 
the  original,  and  a  choice  must  be  made  between  them  ; 
and  since  the  only  ruling  philosophy  was  still  faith  in 
authority,  the  oldest  authority  was  judged  to  be  the  best : 
men  left  the  Arabian  standard  and  rallied  round  Hippo- 
crates and  Galen,  This  might  seem  only  a  change  of 
masters,  but  it  was  not  to  be  done  without  revolt.  Soon 
they  began  to  mistrust  even  their  new  masters  :  Aris- 
totle did  not  always  agree  with  Plato,  nor  Galen  always 
with  himself," 

The  great  iconoclast  was  still  to  come :  and  this 
was  Paracelsus.  Born  in  1493,  more  than  a  century 
after  the  death  of  Guy  de  Chauliac,  and  neither 
courteous,  pitiful,  nor  sober,  he  yet  had  the  strength 
for  the  work  that  must  be  done.      He  is  the  very 


4  Ambroise  Pare 

incarnation  of  the  spirit  of  free  thought  in  medicine, 
the  man  above  all  others  who  broke  the  Arabian 
schools,  and  struck  at  the  solemn  rubbish  taught  at 
the  Universities.  He  had  the  courage  to  begin  his 
lectures  at  Basel  (1526)  by  lighting  some  sulphur  in 
a  brasier,  and  casting  into  it  the  books  of  Galen, 
Averroes,  and  Avicenna.  "  Sic  vos  ardebitis  in 
Gehenna"  was  his  judgment  on  them;  and  he  went 
on  with  his  lecture  part  in  Latin  part  in  German. 
This  was  six  years  after  Luther  had  burned  the 
Pope's  Bull,  and  the  volumes  of  the  canon  law,  at 
Wittenberg;  and  four  years  after  his  translation  of 
the  Bible.  The  same  spirit  moved  two  men  so  un- 
like :  and  it  would  be  pleasant  to  write  an  essay  on 
the  hundred  best  books  that  have  been  burned. 

When  Paracelsus  began  lecturing,  Ambroise  Par^ 
was  sixteen  years  old.  He  was  not  much  concerned 
at  any  time  of  his  life  with  art,  or  literature,  or  logic, 
or  philosophy.  He  was  fond  of  animals,  and  had 
something  of  an  ear  for  music,  and  a  taste  for 
poetry;  but  he  learned  no  Greek  or  Latin  in  his 
boyhood,  was  not  a  student  at  any  University,  and 
cared  for  no  country  in  the  world  save  France.  He 
thought  for  himself  in  surgery,  but  was  no  rebel 
against  authority  like  that  fallen  angel  Paracelsus: 
nor  is  there  anything  to  show  that  he  ever  used  his  in- 
fluence at  the  Court  to  help  or  hinder  a  political  in- 


Introduction  5 

trigue.  Yet  that  his  life  may  stand  in  proper  relief, 
here  must  be  noted  some  of  the  great  changes  that 
were  at  work  on  the  nations  while  he  lived. 

In  the  year  of  his  birth,  1 5 10,  Louis  XII.  was  King 
of  France,  Maximilian  was  Emperor,  Henry  VIII. 
was  King  of  England.  During  his  life,  the  crown  of 
France  passed  from  Louis  XII.  to  Francois  I.,  then 
to  Henri  II.,  then  to  his  three  sons  in  succession, 
Frangois  II.,  Charles  IX.,  and  Henri  III.,  and  then 
to  Henri  IV.  In  England,  Edward  VI.  succeeded 
to  his  father's  throne,  then  Mary,  then  Elizabeth. 
The  Empire  passed  from  Maximilian  to  Charles  V., 
and  afterward  to  Philip  of  Spain.  If  we  would 
measure  Fare's  life  by  English  history,  he  was  born 
three  years  before  the  battle  of  Flodden  Field,  and 
died  a  year  and  four  months  after  the  destruction  of 
the  Armada.  When  Luther  burned  the  Pope's  Bull, 
and  Raphael  died  at  Rome,  and  the  Kings  of  France 
and  England  met  on  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold, 
Ambroise  was  a  boy  ten  years  old.  At  the  death  of 
Bayard,  fourteen  ;  at  the  fall  of  Wolsey,  twenty. 
When  Calais  was  taken  from  England  he  was  forty- 
eight  ;  and  following  the  fortunes  of  war,  he  served 
against  the  English  in  Brittany  in  1543,  at  Boulogne 
in  1545,  and  at  Havre  in  1563: — perhaps  the  only 
army  surgeon  who  has  twice  seen  discretion  outweigh 
valour  with  English  soldiers. 


6  Ambroise  Pare 

But  the  fighting  between  France  and  England  was 
nothing  to  him  in  comparison  with  the  wars  against 
Germany,  Italy,  and  Spain.  Other  nations  were 
involved  in  them — Switzerland  and  the  Netherlands ; 
the  King  of  Catholic  France  made  secret  advances 
in  1535  toward  the  German  Protestants,  and  openly 
allied  himself  in  1543  with  the  Sultan  Suleiman;  the 
favour  of  the  Pope  was  now  to  the  one  side,  now  to 
the  other;  Italy  was  invaded  again  and  again. 
From  1537  to  1558,  the  one  great  enemy  against 
whom  he  served  was  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  or 
at  the  last  his  son,  Philip  of  Spain,  with  their  Ger- 
man and  Spanish  armies,  and  their  Italian  and 
English  auxiliary  forces;  then,  at  the  siege  of 
Rouen  in  1562,  he  first  saw  civil  war,  his  country 
divided  against  herself,  Catholic  against  Huguenot. 

Before  he  died,  the  wlieel  had  come  full  circle. 
From  Louis  XII.  to  Henri  IV.,  from  the  battle  of 
Spurs  to  the  battle  of  Ivry,  from  Flodden  Field  to 
the  Armada — whichever  way  his  fourscore  years  are 
measured,  they  were  long  enough  for  a  whole  cycle 
of  changes ;  and  the  great  events  through  which  he 
lived  mark  alike  the  length  of  his  days,  and  the 
opportune  moment  of  his  death.  As  he  grevv^  older, 
the  times  got  worse.  All  his  life  he  had  been  in  the 
midst  of  wars;  but  at  first  France  was  fighting  a 
foreign  enemy,  Germany,  Spain,  or  England ;  later, 


Introduction 


came  civil  war,  the  wars  of  religion,  and  the  massacres 
of  the  Huguenots;  finally,  the  long  death-struggle 
between  Henri  HI.  and  the  Guises,  and  the  siege 
of  Paris  by  Henri  IV.  All  his  life  he  had  been 
under  a  despotism ;  but  the  Kings  moved  on  a  down- 
ward grade,  with  the  influence  of  the  Queen-Mother 
heavy  on  all  three  of  her  sons.  All  his  life,  he  had 
a  great  love  of  the  poor ;  but  their  misery  reached 
its  zenith  in  1590,  when  during  the  siege  they  died, 
thousands  of  them,  from  starvation. 

If  Ambroise  Par^  had  come  to  his  end  three  years 
sooner  than  he  did,  he  would  have  gone  without 
hope  for  France.  Between  1587  and  1590,  the 
whole  scene  changed.  In  March,  1587,  came  the 
news  of  the  execution  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots;  in 
August,  1588,  the  Armada  was  destroyed;  in  De- 
cember of  the  same  year  came  the  murder  of  the 
Guises.  In  January,  1589,  the  Queen-Mother  died; 
in  August  the  King  was  assassinated.  The  battle 
of  Ivry  was  fought  on  March  14,  1590,  and  Paris 
was  besieged  by  Henri  IV.  that  same  summer. 
And  then,  at  the  last,  only  four  months  before  his 
death,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  life,  we  read  in  the 
memoirs  of  Pierre  de  L'Estoile  the  exquisite  story 
how  Par^  spoke  his  mind  to  the  great  Archbishop 
of  Lyon,  the  chief  leader  of  the  League,  the  sworn 
enemy  of  the  Huguenots.     The  two  men  met  just 


8  Ambroise  Pare 


outside  Park's  house;  and  at  the  sight  of  him,  Pare 
broke  down,  not  with  rage,  but  with  the  misery  of 
standing  in  his  old  age  among  the  dead  and  dying, 
face  to  face  with  a  priest  who  was  furious  against 
peace : — 

"  I  remember  about  eight  or  ten  days  at  most  before 
the  siege  was  raised,  Monseigneur  the  Archbishop,  going 
over  the  end  of  the  Pont  Saint  Michel,  when  he  found 
his  way  blocked  by  a  crowd  of  those  who  were  dying  of 
hunger,  they  cried  out  to  him  begging  for  bread  or  else 
for  death  ;  he  not  knowing  what  to  say  to  them,  Master 
Ambroise  Pare  meets  him,  and  says  to  him  in  a  loud 
voice,  '  Monseigneur,  this  poor  people  that  you  see  here 
round  you  are  dying  of  the  cruel  pains  of  famine,  and 
they  ask  pity  of  you.  For  God's  sake.  Monsieur,  have 
pity  on  them,  if  you  want  God  to  have  pity  on  you  ; 
think  a  little  of  the  high  place  to  which  God  has  called 
you,  and  how  the  cry  of  these  poor  men  and  women  goes 
up  to  Heaven,  and  is  a  warning  sent  you  by  God,  to  re- 
mind you  of  the  duties  of  your  office,  for  which  you  have 
to  answer  to  Him.  Therefore,  by  that  office  and  by  the 
power  that  we  all  know  you  have,  bring  about  peace  for 
us,  and  give  us  a  way  of  living,  for  the  poor  can  no 
longer  help  themselves.  Do  you  not  see  that  all  Paris  is 
dying,  because  of  the  villains  who  wish  to  prevent  peace, 
which  is  the  special  work  of  God  ?  Set  your  whole 
strength  against  them,  Monsieur  ;  take  in  hand  the 
cause  of  this  poor  afflicted  people,  and  God  will  bless 
you  and  repay  you.'  ISIonseigneur  the  Archbishop  said 
nothing,  or  next  to  nothing  ;  only  he  was  patient  to 
hear  him  out  and  not  interrupt  him,  which  was  not  his 


Introduction  9 

usual  way  ;  and  he  said  afterward  the  good  man  had 
fairly  astonished  him  ;  and  again,  this  was  not  the  sort 
of  politics  he  was  wont  to  hear  talked  ;  and  Master  Pare 
had  waked  him  up,  and  made  him  think  of  many  things," 

The  siege  was  raised  on  the  29th  of  August :  Am- 
broise  Pare  died  before  the  end  of  the  year: — 

"  On  Thursday,  December  the  twentieth,  the  eve  of 
Saint  Thomas,  at  Paris  in  his  own  house,  died  Master 
Ambroise  Pare,  the  King's  surgeon,  eighty  years  old,  a 
learned  man,  and  the  chief  of  all  surgeons  ;  who,  even 
against  the  times,  all  his  life  talked  and  spoke  openly  for 
peace  and  for  the  people  ;  which  made  him  as  much 
beloved  by  the  good  as  he  was  begrudged  and  hated  by 
the  wicked." 

He  lived  into  the  beginning  of  better  things  for 
France.  It  was  a  long  life,  from  Louis  XII.  to 
Henri  IV.,  from  Maximilian  to  Philip  of  Spain, 
from  Henry  VIII.  to  Elizabeth.  Among  his  co- 
temporaries  ^  were  Ignatius  Loyola  and  Saint 
Theresa,  Luther  and  Erasmus,  Calvin  and  Knox, 
Shakespeare  and  Rabelais,  Raphael  and  Titian, 
Paracelsus,   Servetus,   Sylvius,    and  Vesalius.       He 

*  Bernard  Palissy,  the  potter,  was  born  the  same  year  as  Ambroise  ; 
and  the  two  old  men  were  together  in  Paris  so  late  as  1589,  Pare  in 
his  home,  Palissy  in  the  Bastille.  In  Lent,  1575,  Bernard  Palissy 
gave  three  lectures  in  Paris,  "  On  Springs,  Stones,  Metals,  and 
Other  Natures."  (There  is  something  in  the  title  of  these  lectures 
that  suggests  a  likeness  between  Palissy  and  Mr.  Ruskin.)  The  price 
of  admission  was  a  crown  ;  and  Pare's  name  is  on  the  subscribers'  list. 


lo  Ambroise  Pare 


followed  the  wars,  off  and  on,  for  thirty-two  years; 
he  practised  in  Paris  for  more  than  half  a  century, 
and  was  surgeon  to  four  kings ;  and  even  against 
the  times  he  kept  his  hands  clean,  and  his  heart  full 
of  sympathy.  He  has  been  called  the  John  Baptist 
of  surgery,  in  the  sense  that  he  prepared  the  way 
for  surgeons  after  him ;  but  it  would  be  hard  to  find 
a  worse  mistake  than  this.  He  never  dreamed  of 
modern  surgery  ;  he  made  no  final  change  in  the 
principles  of  his  art,  he  only  cared  to  practise  it. 
Yet  he  has  a  right  to  the  name  ;  for  he  stood  for  the 
truth  at  the  court  of  more  than  one  Herod,  and  ever 
looked  to  see  the  deliverance  of  his  countiy. 


I. 


BOYHOOD   AND  EARLY   LIFE. 


1510-1541. 

"  Between  two  worlds,  one  dead, 
The  other  powerless  to  be  born." 

Matthew  Arnold. 

AMBROISE  PAR£  was  born  in  the  little  village 
of  Bourg-Hersent,  close  to  Laval,  in  Maine; 
the  village  has  now  become  part  of  Laval.  The 
year  of  his  birth  has  been  much  disputed,  and  many 
different  dates  have  been  given  for  it ;  but  nothing 
has  been  brought  forward  to  set  aside  L'Estoile's 
evidence  in  favour  of  the  year  15 10.  His  father,  ac- 
cording to  one  account,  was  "  coffretier,"  a  maker  of 
wooden  chests ;  according  to  another,  he  was  valet- 
de-chambre  and  barber  to  the  Seigneur  de  Laval. 
Ambroise  had  a  sister,  Catherine,  who  married 
Gaspard  Martin,  a  master  barber-surgeon  of  Paris: 
a  brother,  Jehan,  who  was  a  master  barber-surgeon 
in  practice  at  Vitre  in  Brittany ;  and  another,  also 


12  Ambroise  Pare 


called  Jehan,  who  followed  the  father's  trade,  and 
was  a  chest-maker  in  Paris. 

Of  Gaspard  Martin,  we  know  that  he  became 
Ambroise's  patient,  and  died  after  amputation  of 
the  leg,  with  the  new  method  of  ligature.  Long 
afterward,  only  five  years  before  Pare  died,  a  pam- 
phlet was  published  against  him,  by  one  Comperat, 
of  Carcasonne,  recalling  the  death  of  his  brother-in- 
laAV  under  his  hands. 

The  brother  at  Vitr^  is  twice  quoted  by  Ambroise, 
for  his  skill  in  detecting  the  sham  diseases  of  pro- 
fessional beggars.  His  wife's  name  was  Charlotte 
David ;  and  he  had  a  son,  Bertrand,  of  whom  we 
shall  hear  again.      He  died  some  time  before  1549. 

The  brother  in  Paris  lived  in  the  Rue  de  La 
Huchette.  He  married  Marie  Perier,  and  after  her 
death  Marie  de  Neufville.  There  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve his  business  did  not  prosper.  He  died  before 
1560,  leaving  a  daughter  of  his  second  wife.  Her 
name  was  Jehanne,  and  of  her,  too,  we  shall  hear 
more. 

Of  the  boyhood  of  Ambroise  Pare  at  Bourg- 
Hersent  there  are  told  two  or  three  stories,  which 
have  no  great  authority.  It  is  said  he  went  to  the 
village  school;  afterward  his  father  put  him  to 
learn  Latin  with  one  M.  d'Orsoy,  chaplain  in  the 
house  of  a  great  gentleman  near  the  villagfe.     The 


PONT  NEUF. 
FROM  Martial's  "ancien  paris.'' 


Boyhood  and  Early  Life  13 


chaplain,  being  ill-paid  for  this  service,  set  him  to 
weed  the  garden  and  look  after  the  mule.  Then 
Laurence  Colot  came  down  from  Paris  to  perform 
an  operation  on  one  of  the  chaplain's  friends;  Am- 
broise  assisted  him,  and  was  fired  to  try  his  fortune 
in  Paris.  What  we  know  for  certain  is  that  he  never 
learned  Greek  or  Latin,  and  that  he  was  at  Angers 
when  he  was  fifteen  years  old : — 

"  I  desire  not  to  arrogate  to  myself  that  I  have  read 
Galen  either  in  Greek  or  in  Latin  ;  for  it  did  not  please 
God  to  be  so  gracious  to  my  youth  that  it  should  be 
instructed  either  in  the  one  tongue  or  in  the  other." 

(1550)- 

"Anno  Domini,  1525,  when  I  was  at  Angers,  I  re- 
member a  rogue  had  cut  off  the  arm  of  a  hanged  man, 
still  foul  and  tainted,  which  he  had  attached  to  his 
doublet,  fixing  it  with  a  fork  against  his  side,  and  hid 
his  own  arm  behind  his  back,  under  his  cloak,  that  all 
might  think  the  hanged  man's  arm  was  his  own  ;  and  he 
kept  begging  alms  at  the  door  of  the  Temple,*  for  Saint 
Anthony's  sake.  One  Good  Friday,  everyone  was  giving 
him  alms,  seeing  the  rotten  limb,  thinking  he  spoke 
truth.  The  rogue  having  little  by  little  loosed  the  arm, 
at  last  it  came  away,  and  fell  to  the  ground  ;  and  he  go- 
ing quick  to  pick  it  up,  was  seen  by  the  people  to  have 
two  good  arms,  beside  that  of  the  hanged  man.  Then  he 
was  taken  and  ordered  to  be  whipped,  by  decision  of  the 

*  The  Temple  here  is  the  chapel  of  the  Huguenots ;  and  this 
chance  familiar  reference  to  it  has  been  taken  as  evidence  that 
Ambroise  was  brought  up  as  a  Huguenot. 


14  Ambroise  Pare 


magistrate,  with  the  rotten  arm  hanged  round  his  neck, 
in  front  of  his  stomach  :  and  banished  for  ever  out  of  the 
country."     (Book  xix.,  ch.  21.) 

Since  his  brother  was  in  the  profession,  and  his 
sister  had  married  into  it,  Ambroise  set  himself  to 
surgery.  Where  he  served  his  apprenticeship,  who 
was  the  master  barber-surgeon  who  taught  him,  he 
does  not  say.  There  is  a  tradition  that  it  was  a 
barber-surgeon  of  Laval,  named  Vialot ;  or  he  may 
have  gone  to  his  brother  at  Vitre,  or  to  someone  at 
Angers;  and  it  is  possible  that  he  served  part  at 
least  of  his  apprenticeship  in  Paris.  By  1533,  he 
was  at  Paris :  but  the  year  of  his  going  there  is  not 
known.  Long  after  his  death,  there  was  published  * 
in  Paris  a  skit  on  the  treatment  of  these  apprentices 
by  their  masters :  it  throws  back  some  light  over 
these  lean  years  of  Park's  life: — 

"  The  cock  has  scarce  done  crowing,  when  the  appren- 
tice must  rise  to  sweep  and  throw  open  the  shop,  lest  he 
lose  the  least  payment  that  the  tricks  of  the  trade  may 
bring  him — some  early  beard  to  be  shaved.  From  this 
time  on  to  two  o'clock,  there  are  fifty  customers  ;  he 
must  comb  the  wigs,  hang  about  the  parlour  or  the  stair- 
case selling  his  stock,  put  folks'  hair  in  curl  papers,  cut 
it,  or  singe  it.  Toward  evening,  if  the  young  man  wishes 
to  improve  his  mind,  he  will  take  a  book  ;  but  the  dul- 

*  Le  chirurgien  mSdecin,  011  Lettre  au  sujet  des  chirurgiens  qui 
exercent  la  m^dectJie.     Paris,  1726.     Quoted  by  Malgaigne. 


Boyhood  and  Early   Life  15 


ness  and  weariness  of  learning,  which  come  of  his  not 
being  used  to  it,  soon  bring  him  a  sound  sleep,  with 
interruptions  from  the  doorbell,  warning  him  some  rustic 
wants  his  hair  cut.  Never  did  anyone  ask  so  much  of  a 
servant,  never  in  The  Islands  did  a  white  man  seek  so 
greedily  to  get  profit  out  of  a  black  one,  as  a  master 
barber-surgeon  tries  to  make  gain  out  of  the  bread  and 
water  he  gives  his  apprentices.  If  it  is  not  their  after- 
noon out,  he  will  not  let  them  leave  the  shop,  not  even 
to  go  to  Lecture,  for  fear  of  losing  the  worth  of  some 
beard  which  perhaps  will  not  come  after  all.  That  is 
why  the  professors,  out  of  kindness,  give  their  Lectures 
to  these  unhappy  young  men  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing." 

These  lectures,  given  in  Paris  and  other  University 
tou'ns  to  the  apprentices  of  the  surgeons  and  barber- 
surgeons,  were  not  such  as  to  stand  the  test  of  being 
delivered  at  four  in  the  morning.  There  is  a  good 
account  of  them  in  Malgaigne.  They  were  of  course 
given  by  physicians,  or  by  University  professors,  not 
by  surgeons  ;  "  probably  the  lecturer  limited  himself 
to  expounding  those  portions  of  Guy  de  Chauliac 
which  treated  of  wounds,  tumours,  and  ulcers,  adding 
a  few  general  remarks  on  fractures  and  dislocations." 
The  honour  of  the  University  forbade  the  professor 
to  speak  French,  and  the  apprentices  did  not  under- 
stand Latin.  At  Montpellier,  a  compromise  was 
made:  the  professor  read  out  his  authority  in  Latin, 
and  then  commented  on  him  in  a  mixed  eloquence 


1 6  Ambroise  Pare 


half  Latin,  half  French,  We  have  the  lectures  given 
at  Lyon  by  Jehan  Falcon  in  1520,  and  published  by 
his  widow  in  1559.  He  begins  with  a  careful  study 
of  the  title  of  the  book  he  is  reading  to  his  audience ; 
observing  that  the  word  title  is  derived  either  from 
the  Latin  tueri,  because  it  protects  the  author's 
work,  or  from  the  Greek  Titan,  which  means  the 
sun,  and  as  the  sun  throws  light  on  the  world,  so  the 
title  throws  light  on  the  book.  Then,  warming  to 
his  subject,  he  goes  on  to  consider  (i)  To  what  part 
of  philosophy  does  surgery  belong?  (2)  What  is 
the  order  of  this  book  in  regard  to  other  books  on 
surgery  ?  (3)  What  is  the  subject  chiefly  treated  in 
this  book?     (4)  How  many  causes  has  this  book? 

"  I  find  it  has  four  causes  :  efficient,  formal,  final,  and 
material.  The  efficient  cause  is  twofold  ;  universal,  and 
particular.  The  universal  cause  is  God,  who  is  the  cause 
of  all  things  in  this  world.  The  particular  cause  is  the 
doctor  Guido  (Guy  de  Chauliac),  who  was  a  very  excel- 
lent man  in  medicine  and  in  surgery,  as  he  teaches  you 
by  his  book.  The  material  cause  of  this  book  is  the 
human  body,  potent  alike  for  health  and  for  sickness, 
determined  to  manual  operations,  with  which  difference 
it  is  the  subject  of  this  book.  And  here  we  take 
material  cause  for  matter,  wherewith  science  is  con- 
cerned." 

These  lectures  of  Jehan  Falcon  extend  over  610 
pages  quarto ;    we  can   only   hope   that   Ambroise 


Boyhood  and    Early  Life  17 


served  his  apprenticeship  in  some  small  country- 
town,  far  from  physicians  and  professors. 

He  was  at  Paris  in  1533,  twenty-three  years  old, 
and  the  plague  was  raging  there.  The  Paris  of  those 
days,  growing  under  the  hand  of  Francois  I.,  was  a 
walled  city  of  some  1 50,000  inhabitants.  The  Louvre, 
the  old  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  the  great  church  of  St. 
Eustache,  were  just  beginning  to  be  built ;  the  Hotel 
Cluny  was  about  thirty  years  old  ;  Notre  Dame, 
Saint  Germain  I'Auxerrois,  the  Sainte  Chapelle,  the 
Hotel  Dieu,  and  the  fortress  of  Le  Grand  Chatelet, 
were  the  great  landmarks  of  the  life  of  the  city. 
There  was  no  bridge  across  the  whole  width  of  the 
river,  only  bridges  of  wood  or  stone  connecting  La 
Cit6  with  either  bank  of  the  Seine.  The  number  of 
beggars,  thieves,  cut-throats,  and  paupers  herded  in 
Paris  was  frightful ;  an  estimate  of  them,  made  in 
Pare's  lifetime,  puts  the  criminal  classes  at  6000  or 
7000,  the  paupers  at  8000  or  9000.  And  he  who 
would  know  what  the  streets  were  like,  and  what 
sights  were  to  be  seen  in  them,  must  read  the  de- 
lightful memoirs  of  L'Estoile. 

Three  things  Pare  must  obtain :  board  and  lodg- 
ing, plenty  of  practical  work,  and  the  diploma  of  the 
Barber-Surgeons.  There  was  given  to  him,  while 
yet  unqualified,  that  which  all  students  most  desire, 
a  resident  appointment.     He  was  made  *'  compagnon 


1 8  Ambroise  Pare 

chirurgien"  at  the  Hotel  Dieu,  holding  there  the 
office  of  a  House  Surgeon  or  Resident  Medical 
Officer.  For  three  years  he  lived  within  the  walls  of 
the  Hospital ;  in  one  place  in  his  books  he  says  it  was 
four  years.  Sylvius  (Dubois)  was  one  of  his  teach- 
ers ;  Andreas  Vesalius  just  missed,  by  a  year  or  two, 
the  happiness  of  being  his  friend.* 

The  Hotel  Dieu  was  founded  by  Saint  Landry, 
Bishop  of.  Paris,  about  the  year  660,  and  was  en- 
larged in  the  thirteenth  century  by  Saint  Louis.  It 
was  served  by  a  brotherhood  and  sisterhood,  vowed 
to  the  work,  but  not  attached  to  any  great  monastic 
order.  In  the  time  of  Saint  Louis  it  had  thirty 
brethren,  twenty-five  sisters,  four  priests,  and  four 
clerks  in  holy  orders.  The  chapter  of  Notre  Dame 
had  authority  over  it,  and  appointed  two  of  their 
own  number  as  overseers  ;  they  also  chose  one  of 
the  brethren  to  be  Master  of  the  Hospital.  In 
1327,  Charles  IV.  appointed  two  of  the  surgeons  of 
Le  Chatelet  to  visit  it.  The  sisters  appear  to  have 
done  a  good  deal  of  the  work  ;  one  of  them    im- 

*  Vesalius  was  born  at  Brussels,  and  had  been  educated  at  the 
University  of  Brussels  before  he  came  to  Paris  to  study  medicine. 
He  was  about  three  years  older  than  Pare  ;  they  both  had  Sylvius 
for  their  teacher.  The  story  that  they  were  opposed  in  the  wars, 
Pare  with  the  King's  army,  Vesalius  with  the  Emperor,  is  not  proba- 
ble. Pare's  first  sight  of  war  was  in  1537,  and  in  that  year  Vesalius 
was  already  professor  of  anatomy  at  Padua.  Probably  they  met 
over  the  death-bed  of  Henri  II.,  in  1559. 


Boyhood  and   Early  Life  19 


parted  to  Ambroise  her  prescription  for  an  oint- 
ment, and  they  attended  some  of  the  patients  at 
their  own  homes:  but  this  good  custom  was  stopped 
in  1535,  at  the  very  time  when  he  was  resident  at 
the  Hospital.  We  know  there  were  students  at  the 
Hotel  Dieu  in  his  time,  for  in  1505  a  Commission 
of  eight  citizens  of  Paris  had  been  appointed  to 
take  charge  of  the  temporal  service  of  the  Hospi- 
tal, because  of  the  disorder  and  neglect  of  the  pa- 
tients :  the  reforms  ordered  by  the  Commission 
were  opposed  by  the  brethren  and  sisters,  and  in 
1537,  at  or  just  after  the  end  of  Park's  term  of 
office,  things  came  to  a  crisis  and  a  riot  occurred  ; 
certain  students  took  the  side  of  the  sisters,  and 
were  sent  to  prison  for  their  pains.     (Malgaigne.) 

It  is  certain  that  he  got  plenty  of  work  out  of 
the  Hospital.  He  had  the  charge  of  patients,  the 
privilege  of  making  dissections  and  post-mortem  ex- 
aminations, the  chance  of  teaching  the  students. 
In  one  winter  he  operated  on  four  cases  of  loss  of 
the  nose  from  frost-bite  ;  he  saw  the  terrors  of  the 
plague,  the  whole  practice, — out-patient  and  in- 
patient,— of  the  Hospital,  He  loved  the  work,  and 
looked  back  to  it  with  pride.  To  any  present  or  future 
House  Surgeon  who  may  read  this  book,  I  would 
suggest  that  Par^  seems  to  have  worked  well  with 
everybody  in  the  Hospital,  and  that  his  departure 


20  Ambroise  Pare 


■^ 


from  it  was  followed  by  a  regular  riot  of  the  stu- 
dents within  its  walls  ;  as  though  he  had  done  good 
work  under  a  bad  set  of  rules. 

Having  left  his  beloved  Hospital,  he  was  not  the 
man  to  hang  about  it  unemployed,  or  to  put  his 
whole  life  into  a  barber-surgeon's  shop  and  wait  for 
work  to  come.  Practice,  and  plenty  of  it,  he  must 
have  at  once,  and  a  livelihood  ;  practice  anywhere, 
and  at  any  cost.  Here,  then,  the  river  of  his  life 
divides  into  two  streams,  which  flowed  side  by  side 
for  more  than  thirty  years,  before  they  joined  again, 
in  Paris  in  1569,  and  ran  to  the  sea.  He  would  live 
a  double  life, — with  the  army  In  times  of  war,  at 
Paris  in  the  intervals  of  peace.  He  took  a  foothold 
in  Paris,  and  went  off  to  the  wars  with  Colonel 
Montejan.  For  more  than  thirty  years  he  stood 
the  strain  of  this  twofold  work ;  and  toward  the 
end  of  that  time  it  was  no  longer  the  Emperor 
against  whom  he  served,  but  his  own  countrymen. 

There  was  in  his  time  no  organised  army  medical 
service.  The  King  took  with  him  his  own  physi- 
cians, who  were  priests.  The  Seigneurs  had  their 
own  physicians,  priests  or  clerks  in  holy  orders,  who 
also  served  as  chaplains  to  the  army.  A  host  of 
barber-surgeons,  irregular  practitioners,  and  quacks, 
followed  the  troops  with  drugs  and  ointments ; 
women  skilled  to  suck  and  dress  wounds  went  in 


Boyhood  and    Early  Life  21 


and  out  of  the  camp  ;  the  soldiers  had  their  own 
rough  and  ready  remedies  for  gunshot  wounds ; 
Par6  notes  one,  which  was  a  drink  of  gunpowder 
stirred  in  water.  When  Saint  Louis  (i  226-1 270) 
went  on  the  Crusades  he  had  with  him  Jehan 
Pitard,  his  chief  surgeon,  and  others  to  work  under 
him  ;  the  Seigneurs  brought  their  own  physicians 
and  surgeons,  just  as  they  brought  their  own  follow- 
ing of  soldiers.  Toward  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
century  came  the  invention  of  gunpowder:  with 
the  use  of  powder  and  shot  came  the  belief  that 
gunshot  wounds  had  a  special  virulence :  and  the 
treatment  with  boiling  oil  was  practised  by  general 
consent  long  after  Pare,  within  forty-eight  hours  of 
his  first  sight  of  fighting,  had  discovered  the  folly 
of  it. 

He  had  no  recognised  position  in  the  army,  no 
rank  in  the  camp  ;  he  was  paid  by  the  job.  He 
attached  himself  first  to  one  great  man,  then  to 
another,  till  in  1552  he /was  made  one  of  the  King's 
surgeons-in-ordinary ./YPigray,  one  of  his  pupils,  who 
afterward,  on  Park's  recommendation,  was  made 
surgeon  to  the  King,  did  the  same :  there  was  no 
organisation  of  this  branch  of  the  service.  It  is 
true  that  Francois  I.,  about  1538,  sent  Park's  friend 
and  fellow-worker,  Theodoric  de  H6ry,  to  the  French 
troops  in  Italy,  but  this  was  a  special  mission. 


22  Ambroise  Pare 


Some  attempt  to  organise  a  medical  service  for 
his  own  army  was  made  by  Charles  the  Bold,  Duke 
of  Burgundy,  in  the  time  of  Louis  XI.  (1461-1483). 
He  attached  a  surgeon  to  each  company  of  eight 
hundred  men ;  and  of  course  he  and  his  officers  had 
also  their  own  physicians  and  surgeons  with  them  : — 

"  The  Duke  himself  has  four  surgeons,  for  his  own 
person  and  for  those  immediately  around  him  ;  and  cer- 
tainly they  are  not  the  least  occupied  of  his  attendants  : 
for  the  Duke  is  a  Prince  of  such  chivalry  and  martial  ex- 
ercises, that  by  wounds  of  all  kinds  there  are  often  so 
many  to  be  dressed,  in  his  own  house  or  elsewhere,  that 
fifty  surgeons  hard  at  work  would  have  enough  to  do  for 
their  proper  cure.  These  four  surgeons  of  the  Duke 
take  nothing  from  the  poor,  nor  from  the  foreign  sol- 
diers in  the  Duke's  pay  ;  they  duly  attend  him  with  their 
drugs  and  ointments,  and  have  access  to  his  bedchamber 
at  all  hours,  just  like  the  physicians.  .  .  .  He  has 
six  physicians  ;  and  these,  when  he  is  at  table,  sit  behind 
the  bench,  and  counsel  him  with  their  advice  what  viands 
are  most  profitable  to  him."* 

When  Pare  joined  the  army,  he  went  simply  as  a 
follower  of  Colonel  Montejan,  having  neither  rank, 
recognition,  nor  regular  payment.  His  fees  make 
up  in  romance  for  their  irregularity :  a  cask  of  wine, 
fifty  double  ducats  and  a  horse,  a  diamond,  a  collec- 
tion of  crowns  and  half-crowns  from  the  ranks,  other 

*  Ollivier  de  La  Marche  ;  quoted  by  Malgaigne,  from  whom  the 
above  facts  are  taken. 


Boyhood  and   Early  Life  23 


"  honourable  presents  and  of  great  value  "  ;  from  the 
King  himself,  three  hundred  crowns,  and  a  promise 
he  would  never  let  him  be  in  want  ;  another  dia- 
mond, this  time  from  the  finger  of  a  duchess :  and 
a  soldier  once  offered  a  bag  of  gold  to  him. 

He  qualified  as  a  master  barber-surgeon  in  154I)* 
being  at  that  time  thirty-one  years  old.  The  corpo- 
ration of  barber-surgeons  was  a  body  of  some  an- 
tiquity ;  they  are  mentioned  so  far  back  as  the  year 
1301,  and  new  rules  were  made  for  them  in  1371. 
The  King's  chief  barber  was  their  head  ;  the  church 
of  Saint  Sepulchre,  in  the  rue  Saint-Denis,  was  their 
centre ;  Saint  Cosmo  and  Saint  Damien  were  their 
patron  saints.  In  1572,  they  prescribed  a  four  years' 
course  of  study  to  their  apprentices  ;  the  examina- 
tion-fees were  a  crown  to  each  examiner  ;  and  to 
obtain  the  title  of  Master  it  was  necessary  to  pay  a 
further  fee  to  the  Faculty  of  Medicine,  to  undertake 
the  dissections  in  the  schools,  and  to  take  an  oath, 
renewed  every  Saint  Luke's  Day.  They  were  jeal- 
ously restricted  in  the  amount  of  surgery  they  might 
practise  ;  fighting  their  way  up  into  the  territory  of 
the  surgeons,  just  as  the  surgeons  were  fighting 
against  the  supremacy  of  the  physicians. 

There  were  two  examinations,  a  year  apart :  and 
Ambroise  and  his  friend  Th^odoric  de  H6ry  got 
♦Trevedy  is  wrong  in  giving  "  about  1536"  as  the  date. 


24  Ambroise  Par^ 


through  them  side  by  side.     Here  is  the  entry  of 
payment  of  their  fees  for  the  Mastership  *  : 

A  Razoribus  de  novo  examinatis  : 

A  duobus  rasoribus  qui  anno  praeterito  examinati 
fuerant,  videlicet,  ab 

\  Ambrosio  Parre 72  sols  6  deniers  parisis. 

I  Theodorico  de  Heri 72  sols  6  deniers  parisis. 

Or  it  may  be  that  Par6  and  de  Hery  were  exam- 
ined a  second  time  because  things  did  not  go  well 
with  them  on  the  first  occasion. 

Time  has  spared  and  Malgaigne  has  given  to  us 
the  record  of  a  batch  of  candidates  who  passed  their 
examination  about  this  time.  There  were  fifteen  of 
them ;  we  are  not  told  of  those  who  failed  to  satisfy 
the  examiners  of  this  Conjoint  Board.  We  shall  hear 
of  Dr.  Flesselles  again. 

"  Nous  Philippes  Flesselles,  docteur  regent  en  la  Faculte 
de  medecine,  et  medecin  jure  du  roy  nostre  sire  audit 
Chastelet  de  Paris,  et  Jean  Maillard,  docteur  regent  en 
ladite  Faculte,  substitut  en  1'  absence  dudit  de  Flesselles, 
et  Pascal  Bazin,  chirurgien  jure  du  roy  nostre  sire  audit 
Chastelet,  et  Sebastien  Danisy,  prevost  desdits  chirurgiens 
a  Paris,  et  Frangois  Bourlon,  chirurgiens  jures  a  Paris  ; 
et  ledit  Bourlon  commis  par  Guillaume  Roger,  chirurgien 
jure  du  roy  nostre  sire  audit  Chastelet,  parceque  ledit 
Roger  estoit  detenu  au  lict  malade  d'  une  fi6vre  tierce  : 

*  From  Le  Paulmier's  most  admirable  work  Ambroise  ParS  d'aprls 
de  Nouveaux  Douiments.     Paris:  Charavay  Freres,     1884. 


Boyhood  and    Early   Life  25 


Certifions  qu'  en  vertu  de  certaine'  ordonnance  donnee 
en  la  chambre  de  la  police,  dat^e  du  sixiesme  jour 
d'aoList,  et  signee  Valet,  nous  avons  precede  a  1'  audition, 
examen,  et  experience  des  dessous  nommes  sur  le  fait  de 
la  cognition  et  curation  des  clouds,  bosses,  antrax,  et 
charbons,  tant  sur  les  differences  d'  iceux  que  sur  les 
phlebotomies  et  saignees,  diversions  qui  en  tels  cas  con- 
vient  et  se  devoient  faire  et  aussi  pour  la  parfaite  curation 
d'  icelles  :  et  tout  veu  et  considere,  les  responces  des 
dessous  nommes,  tant  en  Theorique  que  Pratique,  les 
disons  estre  idoines  et  suffisans  pour  guerir  lesdits  clouds, 
antrax,  bosses,  et  charbons  :  le  tout  certifions  estre  vray  : 
tesmoins  nos  seings  manuels  icy  mis  le  vingt  sixiesme 
jour  du  mois  d'  aoust  1'  an  mil  cinq  cens  quarante  cinq." 

Then  follow  the  names  of  the  successful  candidates. 

Here,  with  his  admission  to  the  Barber-Surgeons, 
ends  the  first  chapter  of  Ambroise  Fare's  life.  Next 
come  the  Journeys  in  Diverse  Places,  written  in 
Paris,  long  after  the  events,  and  published  in  1585, 
in  the  fourth  edition  of  his  collected  works,  when 
he  was  midway  between  the  threescore  years  and 
ten  and  the  fourscore  years. 

He  wrote  them  in  answer  to  an  attack  made  upon 
him  in  1580  by  Etienne  Gourmelen,  Dean  of  the 
Faculty  of  Medicine.  This  Gourmelen  published  in 
1580  a  book  on  surgery,  in  which  he  asserted  that 
Park's  use  of  the  ligature  after  an  amputation  was 
vastly  inferior  to  the  old  estabhshed  use  of  the  cau- 
tery.    The  book  was  an  idiotic  appeal  to  authority 


26  Ambroise  Pare 


and  tradition  ;  the  very  thing  that  Paracelsus  would 
have  loved  to  burn.  But  it  has  an  everlasting  merit, 
inasmuch  as  it  drew  from  Pare  his  Apologie  et  Traicte 
conte7ia7it  les  Voyages  faicts  en  divers  Lieiilx  :  par 
A  mbroise  Pari,  de  Laval,  Conseiller  et  Premier  Chirur- 
gien  dii  Roy. 

He  begins  with  a  furious  rejoinder  to  his  adversary. 
Gourmelen  had  appealed  to  authority  ;  Pare  takes 
him  to  authority,  and  shows  him  that  the  use  of  the 
ligature  is  no  new  thing.  Then  comes  a  long  list  of 
cases  where  he  had  used  it  with  success  after  amputa- 
tion. Finally,  the  appeal  to  experience.  The  whole 
argument  runs  thus :  (i)  It  is  nothing  new  to  stop  a 
vessel,  bleeding  in  a  wound,  with  the  ligature.  (2)  I 
am  the  first  surgeon  who  has  ever  used  the  ligature 
to  stop  the  bleeding  of  the  wounds  made  by  ampu- 
tations. (3)  I  have  had  good  results  by  this  method. 
(4)  ]\Iy  discovery  was  made  not  by  sitting  in  a  chair 
and  thinking,  but  by  years  of  hard  practical  work  in 
Paris  and  with  the  army. 

From  the  whole  of  his  life,  he  takes  that  great 
part  of  it  which  was  spent  with  the  army,  and  leaves 
his  practice  in  Paris  out  of  the  question.  Once 
started  on  the  story  of  the  wars,  he  tells  it  to  the 
end,  to  a  time  many  years  later  than  the  great  dis- 
covery ;  not  from  vanity,  but  from  love  of  good 
stories,   and   vehement    determination    to    force   on 


Boyhood  and   Early  Life  27 


Gourmelen  the  unwelcome  fact  that  his  hfe,  in  com- 
parison with  Park's,  has  been  a  failure  :  theory  against 
fact,  books  against  patients,  talk  against  work. 

"  Moreover,  you  say  you  will  teach  me  my  lesson  in 
the  operations  of  Surgery  :  which  I  think  you  cannot  do  : 
for  I  did  not  learn  them  in  my  study,  or  by  hearing  for 
many  years  the  lectures  of  Physicians  :  but  I  was  Resi- 
dent three  years  in  the  Hospital  of  Paris,  where  I  was 
able  to  see  and  learn  much  of  the  works  of  Surgery  upon 
an  infinity  of  sick  folk,  with  Anatomy  on  a  quantity  of 
dead  bodies  :  as  I  have  often  given  good  proof  in  public 
at  the  Schools  of  Medicine  in  Paris.  And  my  good  luck 
has  made  me  see  much  more  than  this.  For  being 
called  to  the  service  of  the  Kings  of  France  (four  of 
whom  I  have  served)  I  have  been  in  company  at  Battles, 
Skirmishes,  Assaults,  and  Besiegings  of  Towns  and  Fort- 
resses :  as  also  I  have  been  shut  up  in  Towns  with  the 
Besieged,  having  charge  to  dress  the  Wounded.  Also,  I 
have  dwelt  many  years  in  this  great  and  famous  City  of 
Paris,  where  thanks  be  to  God  I  have  always  lived  in 
very  good  reputation  with  all  men,  and  have  not  held 
the  lowest  rank  among  those  of  my  Estate  ;  seeing  there 
has  not  been  found  a  cure,  were  it  never  so  great  and 
difficult,  that  my  hand  and  judgment  have  not  been  re- 
quired. Now  will  you  dare  to  say  you  will  teach  me  to 
perform  the  works  of  Surgery,  you  who  have  never  yet 
come  out  of  your  study  ?•  .  .  .  I  believe  you  have 
never  come  out  of  your  study,  save  to  teach  Theorick  (if 
you  have  been  able  to  do  even  that).  But  the  operations 
of  Surgery  are  learned  by  the  eye,  and  by  the  hand. 

"  Let  me  say  you  are  like  a  young  lad,  of  Low  Brittany, 
who  asked  leave  of  his  father  to  come  to  Paris.     When  he 


28  Ambroise  Pare 


had  come,  the  Organist  of  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  found 
him  at  the  Palace  gate  :  who  took  him  to  blow  the  or- 
gans, and  there  he  was  three  years.  He  sees  he  can 
speak  a  little  French,  and  goes  home  to  his  father,  and 
tells  him  he  speaks  good  French,  and  moreover  knows 
how  to  play  well  on  the  organs  :  his  father  received  him 
very  joyfully,  that  he  was  so  clever  in  a  short  time.  He 
went  to  the  Organist  of  their  great  church  there,  and 
prayed  him  to  let  his  son  play  on  the  organs,  so  that 
he  might  know  whether  he  were  a  skilful  master  as  he 
said :  which  the  Master  Organist  granted  willingly. 
Being  entered  into  the  organs,  he  cast  himself  with  a 
great  leap  at  the  Bellows  :  the  Master  Organist  bids  him 
play,  and  he  himself  would  blow  the  Bellows.  Then  the 
young  man  tells  him,  /  knoiv  nothing  else  but  only  how  to 
play  071  the  Bellows.  You  too,  ?non  petit  Maistre,  I  think 
you  know  nothing  else  but  how  to  chatter  in  a  Chair  • 
but  as  for  me,  I  will  play  upon  the  keys,  and  make  the 
organs  sound. 

"  See  now,  inon petit  Maistre,  my  answer  to  your  Calum- 
nies :  and  I  pray  you,  if  you  have  a  good  mind  to  the 
Publick,  to  review  and  correct  your  Book  so  soon  as  you 
can,  not  to  keep  young  Surgeons  in  error  by  reading 
therein,  where  you  teach  them  to  use  hot  Irons  after  the 
amputation  of  Limbs  to  staunch  the  Blood,  seeing  there  is 
another  way  not  so  cruel,  and  more  sure  and  easy. 
Moreover  if  to-day  after  some  Assault  on  a  City,  where 
diverse  Soldiers  have  had  legs  and  arms  broken  and 
carried  off  by  Cannon-shots,  or  Cutlasses  or  other  Instru- 
ments of  War,  if  you  should  use  hot  Irons  to  stay  the  flow 
of  Blood,  you  would  need  a  Furnace,  and  much  charcoal 
to  heat  them  :  and  the  Soldiers  would  have  you  in  such 
horror  for  your  cruelty,  they  would  kill  you  like  a 
Calf.     .     .     ." 


Boyhood  and  Early  Life 


29 


The  rest  of  the  answer  to  Gourmelen  is  no  less 
emphatic,  showing  the  wonderful  vigour  and  spirit 
of  Ambroise  Fare's  old  age.  He  appeals,  once  and 
forever,  from  tradition  to  experience ;  he  will  show 
this  "  petit  maistre,"  this  ass,  what  it  really  means,  to 
be  a  surgeon. 

Room  then  for  Pare  himself :  hear  him  tell  in  his 
own  last  words  the  wonderful  romance  of  his  thirty 
years'  service  in  the  army  :  surely  one  of  the  most 
delightful  set  of  stories  in  the  world.  I  put  such 
notes  as  may  be  useful  well  out  of  the  way,  that 
nothing  may  interrupt  him. 


II. 


''JOURNEYS  IN  DIVERSE  PLACES." 

1537-1569- 

A  Soldier.  "  We  know  enough,  if  we  know  we  are  the  King's 
subjects  :  if  his  cause  be  wrong,  our  obedience  to  the  King  wipes  the 
crime  of  it  out  of  us." 

King  Henry.  "Every  subject's  duty  is  the  King's — but  every 
subject's  soul  is  his  own.  Therefore  should  every  soldier  in  the  wars 
do  as  every  sick  man  in  his  bed — wash  every  mote  out  of  his  con- 
science." 

Shakespeare,  King  Henry  V. 

The  Journey  to  Turin.     1537. 

I  WILL  here  shew  my  readers  the  towns  and  places 
where  I  found  a  way  to  learn  the  art  of  surgery: 
for  the  better  instruction  of  the  young  surgeon. 

And  first,  in  the  year  1536,  the  great  King  Francis 
sent  a  large  army  to  Turin,  to  recover  the  towns  and 
castles  that  had  been  taken  by  the  Marquis  du  Guast, 
Lieutenant-General  of  the  Emperor.  M.  the  Con- 
stable, then  Grand  Master,  was  Lieutenant-General 
of  the  army,  and  M.  de  Montejan  was  Colonel-Gen- 
eral of   the  infantry,  whose  surgeon  I  was   at  this 

30 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  31 


time.  A  great  part  of  the  army  being  come  to  the 
Pass  of  Suze,  we  found  the  enemy  occupying  it ;  and 
they  had  made  forts  and  trenches,  so  that  we  had  to 
fight  to  dislodge  them  and  drive  them  out.  And 
there  were  many  killed  and  wounded  on  both  sides, — 
but  the  enemy  were  forced  to  give  way  and  retreat 
into  the  castle,  which  was  captured,  part  of  it,  by 
Captain  Le  Rat,  who  was  posted  on  a  little  hill  with 
some  of  his  soldiers,  whence  they  fired  straight  on  the 
enemy.  He  received  an  arquebus-shot  in  his  right 
ankle,  and  fell  to  ground  at  once,  and  then  said, 
"  Now  they  have  got  the  Rat."  I  dressed  him,  and 
God  healed  him. 

We  entered  pell-mell  into  the  city,  and  passed 
over  the  dead  bodies,  and  some  not  yet  dead,  hear- 
ing them  cry  under  our  horses'  feet ;  and  they  made 
my  heart  ache  to  hear  them.  And  truly  I  repented 
I  had  left  Paris  to  see  such  a  pitiful  spectacle.  Being 
come  into  the  city,  I  entered  into  a  stable,  thinking 
to  lodge  my  own  and  my  man's  horse,  and  found 
four  dead  soldiers,  and  three  propped  against  the 
wall,  their  features  all  changed,  and  they  neither 
saw,  heard,  nor  spake,  and  their  clothes  were  still 
smouldering  where  the  gunpowder  had  burned  them. 
As  I  was  looking  at  them  with  pity,  there  came  an 
old  soldier  who  asked  me  if  there  were  any  way  to 
cure  them.     I  said  no.     And  then  he  went  up  to  them 


32  Ambrolse  Par^ 


and  cut  their  throats,  gently,  and  without  ill  will  to- 
ward them.  Seeing  this  great  cruelty,  I  told  him  he 
was  a  villain :  he  answered  he  prayed  God,  when  he 
should  be  in  such  a  plight,  he  might  find  someone  to 
do  the  same  for  him,  that  he  should  not  linger  in 
misery. 

To  come  back  to  my  story,  the  enemy  were  called 
on  to  surrender,  which  they  did,  and  left  the  city 
with  only  their  lives  saved,  and  the  white  stick  in 
their  hands  ;  and  most  of  them  went  off  to  the 
Chateau  de  Villane,  where  about  two  hundred  Span- 
iards were  stationed.  M.  the  Constable  would  not 
leave  these  behind  him,  wishing  to  clear  the  road 
for  our  own  men.  The  castle  is  seated  on  a  small 
hill ;  which  gave  great  confidence  to  those  within, 
that  we  could  not  bring  our  artillery  to  bear  upon 
them.  They  were  summoned  to  surrender,  or  they 
v/ould  be  cut  in  pieces :  they  answered  that  they 
would  not,  saying  they  were  as  good  and  faithful 
servants  of  the  Emperor,  as  M.  the  Constable  could 
be  of  the  King  his  master.*  Thereupon  our  men  by 
night  hoisted  up  two  great  cannons,  with  the  help  of 
the  Swiss  soldiers  and  the  lansquenets  ;  but  as  ill 
luck  would  have  it,  when  the  cannons  were  in 
position,  a  gunner  stupidly  set  fire  to  a  bag  full  of 
gunpowder,  whereby  he  was  burned,  with  ten  or 
*  Brave  response  de  soldats. — A.  P. 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places" 


twelve  soldiers  ;  and  the  flame  of  the  powder  dis- 
covered our  artillery,  so  that  all  night  long  those 
within  the  castle  fired  their  arquebuses  at  the  place 
where  they  had  caught  sight  of  the  cannons,  and 
many  of  our  men  were  killed  and  wounded.  Next 
day,  early  in  the  morning,  the  attack  was  begun,  and 
we  soon  made  a  breach  in  their  wall.  Then  they  de- 
manded a  parley  :  but  it  was  too  late,  for  meanwhile 
our  French  infantry,  seeing  them  taken  by  surprise, 
mounted  the  breach,  and  cut  them  all  in  pieces,  save 
one  very  fair  young  girl  of  Piedmont,  whom  a  great 
seigneur  would  have.  .  .  .  The  captain  and  the 
ensign  were  taken  alive,  but  soon  afterward  hanged 
and  strangled  on  the  battlements  of  the  gate  of  the 
city,  to  give  example  and  fear  to  the  Emperor's  sol- 
diers, not  to  be  so  rash  and  mad  as  to  wish  to  hold 
such  places  against  so  great  an  army.  * 

The  soldiers  within  the  castle,  seeing  our  men 
come  on  them  with  great  fury,  did  all  they  could  to 
defend  themselves,  and  killed  and  wounded  many  of 
our  soldiers  with  pikes,  arquebuses,  and  stones, 
whereby  the  surgeons  had  all  their  work  cut  out  for 
them.  Now  I  was  at  this  time  a  fresh-water  soldier ; 
I  had  not  yet  seen  v/ounds  made  by  gunshot  at  the 
first  dressing.  It  is  true  I  had  read  in  John  de  Vigo, 
first  book,  Of   Wounds  in  General,  eighth  chapter, 

*Punition  exemplaire. — A.  P, 


34  Ambroise  Par^ 


that  wounds  made  by  firearms  partake  of  venenosity, 
by  reason  of  the  powder ;  and  for  their  cure  he  bids 
you  cauterise  them  with  oil  of  elders  scalding  hot, 
mixed  with  a  little  treacle.  And  to  make  no  mis- 
take, before  I  would  use  the  said  oil,  knowing  this 
was  to  bring  great  pain  to  the  patient,  I  asked  first 
before  I  applied  it,  what  the  other  surgeons  did  for 
the  first  dressing  ;  which  was  to  put  the  said  oil, 
boiling  well,  into  the  wounds,  with  tents  and  setons ; 
wherefore  I  took  courage  to  do  as  they  did.  *  At 
last  my  oil  ran  short,  and  I  was  forced  instead  thereof 
to  apply  a  digestive  made  of  the  yolks  of  eggs,  oil  of 
roses,  and  turpentine.  In  the  night  I  could  not  sleep 
in  quiet,  fearing  some  default  in  not  cauterising,  that 
I  should  find  the  wounded  to  whom  I  had  not  used 
the  said  oil  dead  from  the  poison  of  their  wounds ; 
which  made  me  rise  very  early  to  visit  them,  where 
beyond  my  expectation  I  found  that  those  to  whom 
I  had  applied  my  digestive  medicament  had  but 
little  pain,  and  their  wounds  without  inflammation 
or  swelling,  having  rested  fairly  well  that  night ;  the 
others,  to  whom  the  boiling  oil  was  used,  I  found 
feverish,  with  great  pain  and  swelling  about  the 
edges  of  their  wounds.  Then  I  resolved  never  more 
to  burn  thus  cruelly  poor  men  with  gunshot  wounds. 
While  I  was  at  Turin,  I  found  a  surgeon  famed 
♦Experience  rend  I'homine  hardy. — A.  P. 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  35 


above  all  others  for  his  treatment  of  gunshot  wounds ; 
into  whose  favour  I  found  means  to  insinuate  my- 
self, to  have  the  recipe  of  his  balm,  as  he  called  it, 
wherewith  he  dressed  gunshot  wounds.  And  he 
made  me  pay  my  court  to  him  for  two  years,  before 
I  could  possibly  draw  the  recipe  from  him.  In  the 
end,  thanks  to  my  gifts  and  presents,  he  gave  it  to 
me  ;  which  was  to  boil,  in  oil  of  lilies,  young  whelps 
just  born,  and  earth-worms  prepared  with  Venetian 
turpentine.  Then  I  was  joyful,  and  my  heart  made 
glad,  that  I  had  understood  his  remedy,  which  was 
like  that  which  I  had  obtained  by  chance. 

See  how  I  learned  to  treat  gunshot  wounds  ;  not 
by  books. 

My  Lord  Marshal  Montejan  remained  Lieutenant- 
General  for  the  King  in  Piedmont,  having  ten  or 
twelve  thousand  men  in  garrison  in  the  different 
cities  and  castles,  who  were  often  fighting  among 
themselves  with  swords  and  other  weapons,  even 
with  arquebuses.  And  if  there  were  four  wounded,  I 
always  had  three  of  them  ;  and  if  there  were  ques- 
tion of  cutting  off  an  arm  or  a  leg,  or  of  trepanning, 
or  of  reducing  a  fracture  or  a  dislocation,  I  accom- 
plished it  all.  The  Lord  Marshal  sent  me  now  here 
now  there  to  dress  the  soldiers  committed  to  me  who 
were  wounded  in  other  cities  beside  Turin,  so  that  I 
was  always  in  the  country,  one  way  or  the  other. 


36  Ambroise  Pare 


M.  the  Marshal  sent  to  Milan,  to  a  physician 
of  no  less  reputation  than  the  late  M.  le  Grand 
for  his  success  in  practice,  to  treat  him  for  an  hepa- 
tic flux,  whereof  in  the  end  he  died.  This  physi- 
cian was  some  while  at  Turin  to  treat  him,  and 
was  often  called  to  visit  the  wounded,  where  always 
he  found  me ;  and  I  was  used  to  consult  with  him, 
and  with  some  other  surgeons ;  and  when  we  had 
resolved  to  do  any  serious  work  of  surgery,  it  was 
Ambroise  Pare  that  put  his  hand  thereto,  which  I 
would  do  promptly  and  skilfully,  and  with  great 
assurance,  insomuch  that  the  physician  wondered  at 
me,  to  be  so  ready  in  the  operations  of  surgery,  and 
I  so  young.  One  day,  discoursing  with  the  Lord 
Marshal,  he  said  to  him  *  : 

"  Signor,  tu  hai  un  Chirurgico  giovane  di  anni,  ma 
egli  e  vecchio  di  sapere  e  di  esperientia :  Guardato 
bene,  perche  egli  ti  fara  servicio  et  honore."  That  is 
to  say,  "  Thou  hast  a  surgeon  young  in  age,  but  he  is 
old  in  knowledge  and  experience  :  take  good  care  of 
him,  for  he  will  do  thee  service  and  honour."  But 
the  good  man  did  not  know  I  had  lived  three  years 
at  the  Hotel  Dieu  in  Paris,  with  the  patients  there. 

In  the  end,  M.  the  Marshal  died  of  his  hepatic 
flux.  He  being  dead,  the  King  sent  M.  the  Marshal 
dAnnebaut  to  be  in  his  place:    who  did   me  the 

*  Tesmoignage  de  la  dexterite  de  1'  Autheur. — A.  P. 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  37 


honour  to  ask  me  to  live  with  him,  and  he  would 
treat  me  as  well  or  better  than  M.  the  Marshal  de 
Montejan.  Which  I  would  not  do,  for  grief  at  the 
loss  of  my  master,  who  loved  me  dearly  ;  so  I  re- 
turned to  Paris. 

The  Journey  to  Marolle  and  Low  Brittany. 

1543- 

I  went  to  the  Camp  of  Marolle,  with  the  late  M. 
de  Rohan,  as  surgeon  of  his  company  ;  where  was 
the  King  himself.  M.  d'Estampes,  Governor  of 
Brittany,  had  told  the  King  how  the  English  had 
hoist  sail  to  land  in  Low  Brittany ;  and  had  prayed 
him  to  send,  to  help  him,  MM.  de  Rohan  and  de 
Laval,  because  they  were  the  seigneurs  of  that 
country,  and  by  their  help  the  country  people  would 
beat  back  the  enemy,  and  keep  them  from  landing. 
Having  heard  this,  the  King  sent  these  seigneurs  to 
go  in  haste  to  the  help  of  their  country  ;  and  to  each 
was  given  as  much  power  as  to  the  Governor,  so  that 
they  were  all  three  the  King's  Lieutenants.  They 
willingly  took  this  charge  upon  them,  and  went  off 
posting  with  good  speed,  and  took  me  with  them  as 
far  as  Landreneau.  There  we  found  every  one  in 
arms,  the  tocsin  sounding  on  every  side,  for  a  good 
five  or  six  leagues  round  the  harbours,  Brest,  Cou- 
quet,  Crozon,  le  Fou,  Doulac,  Laudanec ;  each  well 


38  Ambroise  Par^ 


furnished  with  artillery,  as  cannons,  demi-cannons, 
culverins,  muskets,  falcons,  arquebuses ;  in  brief,  all 
who  came  together  were  well  equipped  with  all  sorts 
and  kinds  of  artillery,  and  with  many  soldiers,  both 
Breton  and  French,  to  hinder  the  English  from 
landing  as  they  had  resolved  at  their  parting  from 
England. 

The  enemy's  army  came  right  under  our  cannons : 
and  when  we  perceived  them  desiring  to  land,  we 
saluted  them  with  cannon-shot,  and  unmasked  our 
forces  and  our  artillery.  They  fled  to  sea  again. 
I  was  right  glad  to  see  their  ships  set  sail,  which 
were  in  good  number  and  good  order,  and  seemed 
to  be  a  forest  moving  upon  the  sea.  I  saw  a  thing 
also  whereat  I  marvelled  much,  which  was,  that  the 
balls  of  the  great  cannons  made  long  rebounds,  and 
grazed  over  the  water  as  they  do  over  the  earth. 
Now  to  make  the  matter  short,  our  English  did  us 
no  harm,  and  returned  safe  and  sound  into  England. 
And  they  leaving  us  in  peace,  we  stayed  in  that 
country  in  garrison  until  we  were  assured  that  their 
army  was  dispersed. 

Now  our  soldiers  used  often  to  exercise  them- 
selves with  running  at  the  ring,  or  with  fencing,  so 
that  there  was  always  some  one  in  trouble,  and  I  had 
always  something  to  employ  me.  M.  d'Estampes,  to 
make  pastime  and  pleasure   for  the   Seigneurs   de 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  39 


Rohan  and  de  Laval,  and  other  gentlemen,  got  a 
number  of  village  girls  to  come  to  the  sports,  to  sing 
songs  in  the  tongue  of  Low  Brittany  :  wherein  their 
harmony  was  like  the  croaking  of  frogs  when  they 
are  in  love.  Moreover,  he  made  them  dance  the 
Brittany  triori,  without  moving  feet  or  hips :  he  made 
the  gentlemen  see  and  hear  many  good  things. 

At  other  times  they  made  the  wrestlers  of  the 
towns  and  villages  come,  where  there  was  a  prize 
for  the  best :  and  the  sport  was  not  ended  but  that 
one  or  other  had  a  leg  or  arm  broken,  or  the  shoulder 
or  hip  dislocated. 

There  was  a  little  man  of  Low  Brittany,  of  a  square 
body  and  well  set,  who  long  held  the  credit  of  the 
field,  and  by  his  skill  and  strength  threw  five  or  six 
to  the  ground.  There  came  against  him  a  big  man, 
one  Dativo,  a  pedagogue,  who  was  said  to  be  one  of 
the  best  wrestlers  in  all  Brittany  :  he  entered  into 
the  lists,  having  thrown  off  his  long  jacket,  in  hose  and 
doublet :  when  he  was  near  the  little  man,  it  looked 
as  though  the  little  man  had  been  tied  to  his  girdle. 
Nevertheless,  when  they  gripped  each  other  round 
the  neck,  they  were  a  long  time  without  doing  any- 
thing, and  we  thought  they  would  remain  equal  in 
force  and  skill :  but  the  little  man  suddenly  leaped 
beneath  this  big  Dativo,  and  took  him  on  his  shoul- 
der,  and    threw    him    to    earth    on    his    back   all 


40  Ambrolse  Fare 


spread  out  like  a  frog ;  and  all  the  company 
laughed  at  the  skill  and  strength  of  the  little  fellow. 
The  great  Dativo  was  furious  to  have  been  thus 
thrown  to  earth  by  so  small  a  man:  he  rose  again 
in  a  rage,  and  would  have  his  revenge.  They  took 
hold  again  round  the  neck,  and  were  again  a  good 
while  at  their  hold  without  falling  to  the  ground  :  but 
at  last  the  big  man  let  himself  fall  upon  the  little, 
and  in  falling  put  his  elbow  upon  the  pit  of  his 
stomach,  and  burst  his  heart,  and  killed  him  stark 
dead.  And  knowing  he  had  given  him  his  death's 
blow,  took  again  his  long  cassock,  and  went  away 
with  his  tail  between  his  legs,  and  eclipsed  himself. 
Seeing  the  little  man  came  not  again  to  himself, 
either  for  wine,  vinegar,  or  any  other  thing  presented 
to  him,  I  drew  near  to  him  and  felt  his  pulse,  which 
did  not  beat  at  all :  then  I  said  he  was  dead.  Then 
the  Bretons,  who  were  assisting  at  the  wrestling,  said 
aloud  in  their  jargon,  "  Andraze  meuraquet  enes  rac 
un  bloa  so  abeuduex  henelep  e  barz  an  gouremon 
enel  ma  hoa  engoustun."  That  is  to  say,  "  This  is 
not  in  the  sport."  And  someone  said  that  this  great 
Dativo  was  accustomed  to  do  so,  and  but  a  year  past 
he  had  done  the  same  at  a  wrestling.  I  must  needs 
open  the  body  to  know  the  cause  of  this  sudden 
death.  I  found  much  blood  in  the  thorax  .  .  . 
I  tried  to  find  some  internal  opening  whence  it  might 


"Journeys  in   Diverse   Places"  41 


have  come,  which  I  could  not,  for  all  the  diligence 
that  I  could  use.  *  .  .  ,  The  poor  little  wrestler 
was  buried.  I  took  leave  of  MM.  de  Rohan,  de 
Laval,  and  d'Estampes.  M.  de  Rohan  made  me  a 
present  of  fifty  double  ducats  and  a  horse,  M.  de 
Laval  gave  me  a  nag  for  my  man,  and  M.  d'Estampes 
gave  me  a  diamond  worth  thirty  crowns :  and  I 
returned  to  my  house  in  Paris. 

The  Journey  to  Perpignan.  1543. 

Some  while  after,  M.  de  Rohan  took  me  with  him 
posting  to  the  camp  at  Perpignan.  While  we  were 
there,  the  enemy  sallied  out,  and  surrounded  three 
pieces  of  our  artillery  before  they  were  beaten  back 
to  the  gates  of  the  city.  Which  was  not  done  with- 
out many  killed  and  wounded,  among  the  others  M. 
de  Brissac,  who  was  then  grand  master  of  the  artil- 
lery, with  an  arquebus-shot  in  the  shoulder.  When 
he  retired  to  his  tent,  all  the  wounded  followed  him, 
hoping  to  be  dressed  by  the  surgeons  who  were  to 
dress  him.  Being  come  to  his  tent  and  laid  on  his 
bed,  the  bullet  was  searched  for  by  three  or  four 
of  the  best  surgeons  in  the  army,  who  could  not 
find  it,  but  said  it  had  entered  into  his  body. 

At  last  he  called  for  me,  to  see   if    I    could    be 

*  J'eusse  bien  voulu,  mon  petit  maistre,  vous  voir  pour  s9avoir 
trouver  I'ouverture. — A.  P. 


42  Ambroise  Pare 


more  skilful  than  they,  because  he  had  known  me  in 
Piedmont.  Then  I  made  him  rise  from  his  bed,  and 
told  him  to  put  himself  in  the  same  posture  that  he 
had  when  he  was  wounded,*  which  he  did,  taking  a 
javelin  in  his  hand  just  as  he  had  held  his  pike  to 
fight.  I  put  my  hand  around  the  wound,  and  found 
the  bullet.  .  .  .  Having  found  it,  I  showed  them 
the  place  where  it  was,  and  it  was  taken  out  by  M. 
Nicole  Lavernot,  surgeon  of  M.  the  Dauphin,  who 
was  the  King's  Lieutenant  in  that  army  ;  all  the  same, 
the  honour  of  finding  it  belonged  to  me. 

I  saw  one  very  strange  thing,  which  was  this :  a 
soldier  in  my  presence  gave  one  of  his  fellows  a  blow 
on  the  head  with  a  halbard,  penetrating  to  the  left 
ventricle  of  the  brain  ;  yet  the  man  did  not  fall  to 
the  ground.  He  that  struck  him  said  he  heard  that 
he  had  cheated  at  dice,  and  he  had  drawn  a  large  sum 
of  money  from  him,  and  was  accustomed  to  cheat. 
They  called  me  to  dress  him  ;  which  I  did,  as  it  were 
for  the  last  time,  knowing  that  he  would  die  soon. 
When  I  had  dressed  him,  he  returned  all  alone  to  his 
quarters,  which  were  at  the  least  two  hundred  paces 
away.  I  bade  one  of  his  companions  send  for  a  priest 
to  dispose  the  affairs  of  his  soul  ;  he  got  one  for  him, 
who  stayed  with  him  to  his  last  breath.  The  next  day, 
the  patient  sent  for  me  by  his  girl,  dressed  in  boy's 
*  Addresse  de  rAutheur. — A.  P. 


"Journeys  in   Diverse   Places"  43 


apparel,  to  come  and  dress  him  ;  which  I  v/ould  not, 
fearing  he  would  die  under  my  hands  ;  and  to  be  rid 
of  the  matter  I  told  her  the  dressing  must  not  be  re- 
moved before  the  third  day.  But  in  truth  he  was  sure 
to  die,  though  he  were  never  touched  again.  The  third 
day,  he  came  staggering  to  find  me  in  my  tent,  and 
the  girl  ^vith  him,  and  prayed  me  most  affectionately 
to  dress  him,  and  showed  me  a  purse  wherein  might 
be  an  hundred  or  sixscore  pieces  of  gold,  and  said 
he  would  give  me  my  heart's  desire  ;  nevertheless, 
for  all  that,  I  put  off  the  removal  of  the  dressing, 
fearing  lest  he  should  die  then  and  there.  Certain 
gentlemen  desired  me  to  go  and  dress  him  ;  which  I 
did  at  their  request ;  but  in  dressing  him  he  died 
under  my  hands  in  a  convulsion.  The  priest  stayed 
with  him  till  death,  and  seized  his  purse,  for  fear  an- 
other man  should  take  it,  saying  he  would  say  masses 
for  his  poor  soul,  x^lso  he  took  his  clothes,  and 
even,'thing  else. 

I  have  told  this  case  for  the  wonder  of  it,  that  the 
soldier,  having  received  this  great  blow,  did  not  fall 
down,  and  kept  his  reason  to  the  end. 

Not  long  afterward,  the  camp  was  broken  up  from 
diverse  causes  :  one,  because  we  were  told  that  four 
companies  of  Spaniards  were  entered  into  Perpignan  : 
the  other,  that  the  plague  was  spreading  through  the 
camp.     ^Moreover,  the  country  folk  warned  us  there 


44  Ambroise  Pare 


would  soon  be  a  great  overflowing  of  the  sea,  which 
might  drown  us  all.  And  the  presage  which  they 
had,  was  a  very  great  wind  from  sea,  which  rose  so 
high  that  there  remained  not  a  single  tent  but  was 
broken  and  thrown  down,  for  all  the  care  and  dili- 
gence we  could  give  ;  and  the  kitchens  being  all  un- 
covered, the  wind  raised  the  dust  and  sand,  which 
salted  and  powdered  our  meats  in  such  fashion  that 
we  could  not  eat  them  ;  and  we  had  to  cook  them  in 
pots  and  other  covered  vessels.  Nor  was  the  camp 
so  quickly  moved  but  that  many  carts  and  carters, 
mules  and  mule  drivers,  were  drowned  in  the  sea, 
with  great  loss  of  baggage. 

When  the  camp  was  moved  I  returned  to  Paris. 

The  Journey   to  Landresy.     1544. 

The  King  raised  a  great  army  to  victual  Landresy. 
Against  him  the  Emperor  had  no  fewer  men,  but 
many  more,  to  wit,  eighteen  thousand  Germans,  ten 
thousand  Spaniards,  six  thousand  Walloons,  ten  thou- 
sand English,  and  from  thirteen  to  fourteen  thou- 
sand horse.  I  saw  the  two  armies  near  each  other, 
within  cannon-shot  ;  and  we  thought  they  could  not 
withdraw  without  giving  battle.  There  were  some 
foolish  gentlemen  who  must  needs  approach  the  ene- 
my's camp  ;  the  enemy  fired  on  them  with  light  field 
pieces;  some  died  then  and  there,  others  had  their 


"  Journeys  In  Diverse   Places  "  45 


arms  or  legs  carried  away.  The  King  having  done 
what  he  wished,  which  was  to  victual  Landresy,  with- 
drew his  army  to  Guise,  which  was  the  day  after  All 
Saints,  1544;  and  from  there  I  returned  to  Paris. 

The  Journey  to  Boulogne.     1545. 

A  little  while  after,  we  went  to  Boulogne ;  where 
the  EngHsh,  seeing  our  army,  left  the  forts  which 
they  were  holding,  Moulambert,  le  petit  Paradis, 
Monplaisir,  the  fort  of  Chastillon,  le  Portet,  the  fort 
of  Dardelot.  One  day,  as  I  was  going  through  the 
camp  to  dress  my  wounded  men,  the  enemy  who 
were  in  the  Tour  d'  Ordre  fired  a  cannon  against  us, 
thinking  to  kill  two  men-at-arms  who  had  stopped  to 
talk  together.  It  happened  that  the  ball  passed 
quite  close  to  one  of  them,  which  threw  him  to  the 
ground,  and  it  was  thought  the  ball  had  touched 
him,  which  it  did  not ;  but  only  the  wind  of  the  ball 
full  against  his  corselet,  with  such  force  that  all  the 
outer  part  of  his  thigh  became  livid  and  black,  and 
he  could  hardly  stand.  I  dressed  him,  and  made 
diverse  scarifications  to  let  out  the  bruised  blood 
made  by  the  wind  of  the  ball  ;  and  by  the  rebounds 
that  it  made  on  the  ground  it  killed  four  soldiers, 
who  remained  dead  where  they  fell. 

I  was  not  far  from  this  shot,  so  that  I  could  just 
feel  the  moved  air,  without  its  doing  me  any  harm 


46  Ambroise  Pare 


save  a  fright,  which  made  me  duck  my  head  low 
enough  ;  but  the  bail  was  already  far  away.  The 
soldiers  laughed  at  me,  to  be  afraid  of  a  ball  which 
had  already  passed.  Moji  petit  fnaistre,  I  think  if 
you  had  been  there,  I  should  not  have  been  afraid 
all  alone,  and  you  would  have  had  your  share  of  it. 
Monseigneur  the  Due  de  Guise,  Frangois  de  Lor- 
raine, was  wounded  before  Boulogne  with  a  thrust 
of  a  lance,  which  entered  above  the  right  eye,  toward 
the  nose,  and  passed  out  on  the  other  side  between 
the  ear  and  the  back  of  the  neck,  with  so  great  vio- 
lence that  the  head  of  the  lance,  with  a  piece  of  the 
wood,  was  broken  and  remained  fast ;  so  that  it 
could  not  be  drawn  out  save  with  extreme  force, 
with  smith's  pincers.  Yet  notwithstanding  the 
great  violence  of  the  blow,  which  was  not  without 
fracture  of  bones,  nerves,  veins,  and  arteries,  and 
other  parts  torn  and  broken,  my  lord,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  was  healed.  He  was  used  to  go  into  battle 
always  with  his  vizard  raised  :  that  is  why  the  lance 
passed  right  out  on  the  other  side. 

The  Journey  to  Germany.     1552. 

I  went  to  Germany,  in  the  year  1552,  with  M.  de 
Rohan,  captain  of  fifty  men-at-arms,  where  I  was 
surgeon  of  his  company,  as  I  have  said  before.  On 
this  expedition,  M.  the  Constable  was  general  of  the 


**  Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  47 


army  ;  M.  de  Chastillon,  afterward  the  Admiral,  was 
chief  colonel  of  the  infantry,  with  four  regiments  of 
lansquenets  under  Captains  Recrod  and  Ringrave, 
two  under  each  ;  and  every  regiment  was  of  ten  en- 
signs, and  every  ensign  of  five  hundred  men.  And 
beside  these  were  Captain  Chartel,  who  led  the 
troops  that  the  Protestant  princes  had  sent  to  the 
King  (this  infantry  was  very  fine,  and  was  accom- 
panied by  fifteen  hundred  men-at-arms,  with  a  fol- 
lowing of  two  archers  apiece,  which  would  make  four 
thousand  five  hundred  horse) ;  and  two  thousand 
light  horse,  and  as  many  mounted  arquebusiers, 
of  whom  M.  d'Aumalle  was  general ;  and  a  great 
number  of  the  nobility,  who  were  come  there  for 
their  pleasure.  Moreover,  the  King  was  accom- 
panied by  two  hundred  gentlemen  of  his  household, 
under  the  command  of  the  Seigneurs  de  Boisy  and 
de  Canappe,  and  by  many  other  princes.  For  his 
following,  to  escort  him,  there  were  the  French  and 
Scotch  and  Swiss  guards,  amounting  to  six  hundred 
foot  soldiers;  and  the  companies  of  MM.  the  Dauphin, 
de  Guise,  d'Aumalle,  and  Marshal  Saint  Andre, 
amounting  to  four  hundred  lances  ;  which  was  a 
marvellous  thing,  to  see  such  a  multitude ;  and  with 
this  equipage  the  King  entered  into  Toul  and  Metz. 
I  must  not  omit  to  say  that  the  companies  of  MM. 
de  Rohan,  the  Comte  de  Sancerre,  and  de  Jarnac, 


48  Ambrolse  Pare 


which  were  each  of  them  of  fifty  horse,  went  upon 
the  wings  of  the  camp.  And  God  knows  how  scarce 
we  were  of  victuals,  and  I  protest  before  Him  that 
at  three  diverse  times  I  thought  to  die  of  hunger ; 
and  it  was  not  for  want  of  money,  for  I  had  enough 
of  it ;  but  we  could  not  get  victuals  save  by  force, 
because  the  country  people  collected  them  all  into 
the  towns  and  castles. 

One  of  the  servants  of  the  captain-ensign  of  the 
company  of  M.  de  Rohan  went  with  others  to  enter 
a  church  where  the  peasants  were  retreated,  think- 
ing to  get  victuals  by  love  or  by  force  ;  but  he 
got  the  worst  of  it,  as  they  all  did,  and  came  back 
with  seven  sword-wounds  on  the  head,  the  least 
of  which  penetrated  to  the  inner  table  of  the  skull ; 
and  he  had  four  other  wounds  upon  the  arms,  and 
one  on  the  right  shoulder,  which  cut  more  than  half 
of  the  blade-bone.  He  was  brought  back  to  his 
master's  lodging,  who  seeing  him  so  mutilated,  and 
not  hoping  he  could  be  cured,  made  him  a  grave, 
and  would  have  cast  him  therein,  saying  that  else 
the  peasants  would  massacre  and  kill  him.  I  in  pity* 
told  him  the  man  might  still  be  cured  if  he  were 
well  dressed.  Diverse  gentlemen  of  the  company 
prayed  he  would  take  him  along  with  the  baggage, 
since  I  was  willing  to  dress  him  ;  to  which  he  agreed, 
*  Charite  de  I'Autheur.— A.  P 


"Journeys  in   Diverse  Places"  49 


and  after  I  had  got  the  man  ready,  he  was  put  in  a 
cart,  on  a  bed  well  covered  and  well  arranged,  drawn 
by  a  horse.  I  did  him  the  office  of  physician, 
apothecary,  surgeon,  and  cook.  I  dressed  him  to 
the  end  of  his  case,  and  God  healed  him  ;  insomuch 
that  all  the  three  companies  marvelled  at  this  cure. 
The  men-at-arms  of  the  company  of  M.  de  Rohan, 
the  first  muster  that  was  made,  gave  me  each  a 
crown,  and  the  archers  half  a  crown. 

The  Journey  to  Danvilliers.     1552. 

On  his  return  from  the  expedition  against  the 
German  camp.  King  Henry  besieged  Danvilliers, 
and  those  within  would  not  surrender.  They  got 
the  worst  of  it,  but  our  powder  failed  us ;  so  they 
had  a  good  shot  at  our  men.  There  was  a  cul- 
verin-shot  passed  through  the  tent  of  M.  de  Rohan, 
which  hit  a  gentleman's  leg  who  was  of  his  house- 
hold. I  had  to  finish  the  cutting  off  of  it,  which  I 
did  without  applying  the  hot  irons. 

The  King  sent  for  powder  to  Sedan,  and  when  it 

came  we  began  the   attack   more   vigorously  than 

before,  so  that  a  breach  was  made.     MM.  de  Guise 

and  the  Constable,  being  in  the  King's  chamber,  told 

him,  and    they  agreed  that  next  day   they  would 

assault  the  town,  and  were  confident  they  would  enter 

into  it  ;  and  it  must  be  kept  secret,  for  fear  the  enemy 
4 


50  Ambroise  Pare 


should  come  to  hear  of  it ;  and  each  promised  not  to 
speak  of  it  to  any  man.  Now  there  was  a  groom 
of  the  King's  chamber,  who  being  laid  under  the 
King's  camp-bed  to  sleep,  heard  they  were  resolved 
to  attack  the  town  next  day.  So  he  told  the 
secret  to  a  certain  captain,  saying  that  they  would 
make  the  attack  next  day  for  certain,  and  he 
had  heard  it  from  the  King,  and  prayed  the  said 
captain  to  speak  of  it  to  no  man,  which  he  prom- 
ised ;  but  his  promise  did  not  hold,  and  forthwith 
he  disclosed  it  to  a  captain,  and  this  captain  to  a 
captain,  and  the  captains  to  some  of  the  soldiers, 
saying  always,  "  Say  nothing."  And  it  was  just  so 
much  hid,  that  next  day  early  in  the  morning  there 
was  seen  the  greater  part  of  the  soldiers  with  their 
boots  and  breeches  cut  loose  at  the  knee  for  the 
better  mounting  of  the  breach.  The  King  was  told 
of  this  rumour  that  ran  through  the  camp,  that  the 
attack  was  to  be  made ;  whereat  he  was  astonished, 
seeing  there  were  but  three  in  that  advice,  who 
had  promised  each  other  to  tell  it  to  no  man.  The 
King  sent  for  M.  de  Guise,  to  know  if  he  had  spoken 
of  this  attack  ;  he  swore  and  afifirmed  to  him  he  had 
not  told  it  to  anybody ;  and  M.  the  Constable  said 
the  same,  and  told  the  King  they  must  know  for 
certain  who  had  declared  this  secret  counsel,  seeing 
they  were  but  three.     Inquiry  was  made  from  cap- 


"Journeys  in   Diverse  Places"  51 


tain  to  captain.  In  the  end  they  found  the  truth  ; 
for  one  said,  "  It  was  such  an  one  told  me,"  and 
another  said  the  same,  till  it  came  to  the  first  of  all, 
who  declared  he  had  heard  it  from  the  groom  of  the 
King's  chamber,  called  Guyard,  a  native  of  Blois, 
son  of  a  barber  of  the  late  King  Francis.  The  King 
sent  for  him  into  his  tent,  in  the  presence  of  MM.  de 
Guise  and  the  Constable,  to  hear  from  him  whence 
he  had  his  knowledge,  and  who  had  told  him  the 
attack  was  to  be  made  ;  and  said  if  he  did  not  speak 
the  truth  he  would  have  him  hanged.  Then  he  de- 
clared he  lay  down  under  the  King's  bed  thinking 
to  sleep,  and  so  having  heard  the  plan  he  revealed 
it  to  a  captain  who  was  a  friend  of  his,  to  the  end 
he  might  prepare  himself  with  his  soldiers  to  be  the 
first  at  the  attack.  Then  the  King  knew  the  truth, 
and  told  him  he  should  never  serve  him  again,  and 
that  he  deserved  to  be  hanged,  and  forbade  him 
ever  to  come  again  to  the  Court.* 

The  groom  of  the  chamber  went  away  with  this 
to  swallow,  and  slept  that  night  with  a  surgeon- 
in-ordinary  of  the  King,  Master  Louis  of  Saint 
Andre  ;  and  in  the  night  he  gave  himself  six  stabs 
with  a  knife,  and  cut  his  throat.  Nor  did  the 
surgeon  perceive  it  till  the  morning,  when  he  found 
his  bed  all  bloody,  and  the  dead  body  by  him. 
*  Que  c'est  de  reveler  les  secrets  des  Princes. — A.  P. 


52  Ambroise  Pare 


He  marvelled  at  this  sight  on  his  awaking,  and 
feared  they  would  say  he  was  the  cause  of  the  mur- 
der ;  but  he  was  soon  relieved,  seeing  the  reason, 
which  was  despair  at  the  loss  of  the  good  friendship 
of  the  King. 

So  Guyard  was  buried.  And  those  of  Danvil- 
liers,  when  they  saw  the  breach  large  enough  for 
us  to  enter,  and  our  soldiers  ready  to  assault  them, 
surrendered  themselves  to  the  mercy  of  the  King. 
Their  leaders  were  taken  prisoners,  and  their  soldiers 
were  sent  away  without  arms. 

The  camp  being  dispersed,  I  returned  to  Paris  with 
my  gentleman  whose  leg  I  had  cut  off ;  I  dressed  him, 
and  God  healed  him.  I  sent  him  to  his  house  merry 
with  a  wooden  leg ;  and  he  was  content,  saying  he 
had  got  off  cheap,  not  to  have  been  miserably 
burned  to  stop  the  blood,  as  you  write  in  your 
book,  mon  petit  maistre. 

The  Journey  to  Chateau  le  Comte.     1552. 

Some  time  after,  King  Henry  raised  an  army  of 
thirty  thousand  men,  to  go  and  lay  waste  the  coun- 
try about  Hesdin.  The  King  of  Navarre,  who  was 
then  called  M.  de  Vendosme,  was  chief  of  the  army, 
and  the  King's  Lieutenant.  Being  at  St.  Denis,  in 
France,  waiting  while  the  companies  passed  by,  he 
sent  to  Paris  for  me  to  speak  with  him.     When  I 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  53 


came  he  begged  me  (and  his  request  was  a  com- 
mand) to  follow  him  on  this  journey  ;  and  I,  wish- 
ing to  make  my  excuses,  saying  my  wife  was  sick 
in  bed,  he  made  answer  there  were  physicians  in  Paris 
to  cure  her,  and  he,  too,  had  left  his  wife,  who  was 
of  as  good  a  house  as  mine,  and  he  said  he  would  use 
me  well,  and  forthwith  ordered  I  should  be  attached 
to  his  household.  Seeing  this  great  desire  he  had 
to  take  me  with  him,  I  dared  not  refuse  him. 

I  went  after  him  to  Chateau  le  Comte,  within 
three  or  four  leagues  of  Hesdin.  The  Emperor's 
soldiers  were  in  garrison  there,  with  a  number  of 
peasants  from  the  country  round.  M.  de  Ven- 
dosme  called  on  them  to  surrender ;  they  made  answer 
that  he  should  never  take  them,  unless  it  were  piece- 
meal ;  let  him  do  his  worst,  and  they  would  do  their 
best  to  defend  themselves.  They  trusted  in  their 
moats,  which  were  full  of  water ;  but  in  two  hours, 
with  plenty  of  faggots  and  casks,  we  made  a  way  for 
our  infantry  to  pass  over,  when  they  had  to  advance 
to  the  assault ;  and  the  place  was  attacked  with  five 
cannons,  and  a  breach  was  made  large  enough  for 
our  men  to  enter ;  where  those  within  received  the 
attack  very  valiantly,  and  killed  and  wounded  a 
great  number  of  our  men  with  arquebuses,  pikes, 
and  stones.  In  the  end,  when  they  saw  themselves 
overpowered,  they  set  fire  to  their  powder  and  ammu- 


54  Ambroise  Pare 


nition,  whereby  many  of  our  men  were  burned,  and 
some  of  their  own.  And  they  were  almost  all  put 
to  the  sword  ;  but  some  of  our  soldiers  had  taken 
twenty  or  thirty,  hoping  to  have  ransom  for  them  : 
and  so  soon  as  this  was  known,  orders  were  given  to 
proclaim  by  trumpet  through  the  camp,  that  all  sol- 
diers who  had  Spaniards  for  prisoners  must  kill  them, 
on  pain  of  being  themselves  hanged  and  strangled  : 
which  was  done  in  cold  blood. 

Thence  we  went  and  burned  several  villages; 
and  the  barns  were  all  full  of  grain,  to  my  very  great 
regret.  We  came  as  far  as  Tournahan,  where  there 
was  a  large  tower,  whither  the  enemy  withdrew,  but 
we  found  the  place  empty :  our  men  sacked  it,  and 
blew  up  the  tower  with  a  mine  of  gunpowder,  which 
turned  it  upside  down.  After  that,  the  camp  was 
dispersed,  and  I  returned  to  Paris.  And  the  day 
after  Chateau  le  Comte  was  taken,  M.  de  Vendosme 
sent  a  gentleman  under  orders  to  the  King,  to 
report  to  him  all  that  had  happened,  and  among 
other  things  he  told  the  King  I  had  done  very 
good  work  dressing  the  wounded,  and  had  showed 
him  eighteen  bullets  that  I  had  taken  out  of  their 
bodies,  and  there  were  many  more  that  I  had  not 
been  able  to  find  or  take  out ;  and  he  spoke  more 
good  of  me  than  there  was  by  half.  Then  the 
King  said  he  would  take  me  into  his  service,  and 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  55 


commanded  M.  de  Goguier,  his  first  physician,  to 
write  me  down  in  the  King's  service  as  one  of  his 
surgeons-in-ordinary,  and  I  was  to  meet  him  at 
Rheims  within  ten  or  twelve  days :  which  I  did. 
And  the  King  did  me  the  honour  to  command  me 
to  live  near  him,  and  he  would  be  a  good  friend  to 
me.  Then  I  thanked  him  most  humbly  for  the  hon- 
our he  was  pleased  to  do  me,  in  appointing  me  to 
serve  him. 

The  Journey  TO  Metz.     1552. 

The  Emperor  having  besieged  Metz  with  more 
than  an  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men,  and 
in  the  hardest  time  of  winter, — it  is  still  fresh  in 
the  minds  of  all — and  there  were  five  or  six  thousand 
men  in  the  town,  and  among  them  seven  princes  ; 
MM.  le  Due  de  Guise,  the  King's  Lieutenant,  d'Eng- 
hien,  de  Cond6,  de  la  Montpensier,  de  la  Roche- 
sur-Yon,  de  Nemours,  and  many  other  gentlemen, 
with  a  number  of  veteran  captains  and  officers :  who 
often  sallied  out  against  the  enemy  (as  I  shall  tell 
hereafter),  not  without  heavy  loss  on  both  sides. 
Our  wounded  died  almost  all,  and  it  was  thought  the 
drugs  wherewith  they  were  dressed  had  been  pois- 
oned. Wherefore  M.  de  Guise,  and  MM.  the  princes, 
went  so  far  as  to  beg  the  King  that  if  it  were  possible 
I  should  be  sent  to  them  with  a  supply  of  drugs,  and 


56  Ambroise  Par^ 


they  believed  their  drugs  were  poisoned,  seeing  that 
few  of  their  wounded  escaped.  My  belief  is  that 
there  was  no  poison  ;  but  the  severe  cutlass  and  ar- 
quebus wounds,  and  the  extreme  cold,  were  the 
cause  why  so  many  died.  The  King  wrote  to  M. 
the  Marshal  de  Saint  Andre,  who  was  his  Lieuten- 
ant at  Verdun,  to  find  means  to  get  me  into  Metz, 
whatever  way  was  possible.  MM.  the  Marshal 
de  Saint  Andr6,  and  the  Marshal  de  Vielleville, 
won  over  an  Italian  captain,  who  promised  to  get 
me  into  the  place,  which  he  did  (and  for  this  he 
had  fifteen  hundred  crowns).  The  King  having 
heard  the  promise  that  the  Italian  captain  had 
made,  sent  for  me,  and  commanded  me  to  take 
of  his  apothecary,  named  Daigne,  so  many  and  such 
drugs  as  I  should  think  necessary  for  the  wounded 
within  the  town ;  which  I  did,  as  much  as  a  post- 
horse  could  carry.  The  King  gave  me  messages  to 
M.  de  Guise,  and  to  the  princes  and  the  captains 
that  were  in  Metz. 

When  I  came  to  Verdun,  some  days  after,  M.  the 
Marshal  de  Saint  Andre  got  horses  for  me  and  for 
my  man,  and  for  the  Italian  captain,  who  spoke  ex- 
cellent German,  Spanish,  and  Walloon,  beside  his 
own  mother-tongue.  When  we  were  within  eight  or 
ten  leagues  of  Metz,  we  began  to  go  by  night  only ; 
and  when  we  came  near  the  enemy's  camp  I  saw,  more 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  57 


than  a  league  and  a  half  off,  fires  lighted  all  round  the 
town,  as  if  the  whole  earth  were  burning  ;  and  I  be- 
lieved we  could  never  pass  through  these  fires  with- 
out being  discovered,  and  therefore  hanged  and 
strangled,  or  cut  in  pieces,  or  made  to  pay  a  great 
ransom.  To  speak  truth,  I  could  well  and  gladly 
have  wished  myself  back  in  Paris,  for  the  great  dan- 
ger that  I  foresaw.  God  guided  our  business  so  well, 
that  we  entered  into  the  town  at  midnight,  thanks  to 
a  signal  the  captain  had  with  another  captain  of  the 
company  of  M.  de  Guise  ;  to  whom  I  went,  and  found 
him  in  bed,  and  he  received  me  with  high  favour,  be- 
ing right  glad  at  my  coming. 

I  gave  him  my  message  as  the  King  had  com- 
manded me,  and  told  him  I  had  a  little  letter  for 
him,  and  the  next  day  I  would  not  fail  to  deliver  it. 
Then  he  ordered  me  a  good  lodging,  and  that  I  should 
be  well  treated,  and  said  I  must  not  fail  next  morning 
to  be  upon  the  breach,  where  I  should  find  all  the 
princes  and  seigneurs,  and  many  captains.  Which 
I  did,  and  they  received  me  with  great  joy,  and  did 
me  the  honour  to  embrace  me,  and  tell  me  I  was 
welcome  ;  adding  they  would  no  more  be  afraid  of 
dying,  if  they  should  happen  to  be  wounded. 

M.  le  Prince  de  la  Roche-sur-Yon  was  the  first 
who  entertained  me,  and  inquired  what  they  were 
saying  at  the  Court  concerning  the  town  of  Metz. 


58  Ambroise  Par6 


I  told  him  all  that  I  chose  to  tell.  Forthwith  he 
begged  me  to  go  and  see  one  of  his  gentlemen  named 
M.  de  Magnane,  now  Chevalier  of  the  Order  of  the 
King,  and  Lieutenant  of  His  Majesty's  Guards,  who 
had  his  leg  broken  by  a  cannon-shot.  I  found  him 
in  bed,  his  leg  bent  and  crooked,  without  any  dress- 
ing on  it,  because  a  gentleman  promised  to  cure  him, 
having  his  name  and  his  girdle,  with  certain  words 
(and  the  poor  patient  was  weeping  and  crying  out 
with  pain,  not  sleeping  day  or  night  for  four  days 
past).  Then  I  laughed  at  such  cheating  and  false 
promises ;  and  I  reduced  and  dressed  his  leg  so  skil- 
fully that  he  was  without  pain,  and  slept  all  the  night, 
and  afterward,  thanks  be  to  God,  he  was  healed,  and 
is  still  living  now,  in  the  King's  service.  The  Prince 
de  la  Roche-sur-Yon  sent  me  a  cask  of  wine,  bigger 
than  a  pipe  of  Anjou,  to  my  lodging,  and  told  me 
when  it  was  drunk,  he  would  send  me  another  ;  that 
was  how  he  treated  me,  most  generously. 

After  this,  M.  de  Guise  gave  me  a  list  of  certain 
captains  and  seigneurs,  and  bade  me  tell  them  what 
the  King  had  charged  me  to  say ;  which  I  did,  and 
this  was  to  commend  him  to  them,  and  give  them 
his  thanks  for  the  duty  they  had  done  and  were  do- 
ing in  holding  his  town  of  Metz,  and  that  he  would 
remember  it.  I  was  more  than  eight  days  acquitting 
myself   of   this   charge,  because   they   were   many. 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  59 


First,  to  all  the  princes  ;  then  to  others,  as  the  Duke 
Horace,  the  Count  de  Martigues,  and  his  brother 
M.  de  Baug^,  the  Seigneurs  de  Montmorency  and 
d'Anville,  now  Marshal  of  France,  M.  de  la  Chapelle 
aux  Ursins,  Bonnivet,  Carouge,  now  Governor  of 
Rouen,  the  Vidasme  de  Chartres,  the  Count  de  Lude, 
M.  de  Biron,  now  Marshal  of  France,  M.  de  Randan, 
la  Rochefoucaut,  Bordaille,  d'  Estr^s  the  younger,  M. 
de  Saint  Jehan  en  Dauphin^,  and  many  others  whom 
it  would  take  too  long  to  name ;  and  also  to  many 
captains,  who  had  all  done  their  duty  well  for  the 
defence  of  their  lives  and  of  the  town.  Afterward 
I  asked  M.  de  Guise  what  it  pleased  him  I  should  do 
with  the  drugs  I  had  brought  with  me ;  he  bade  me 
distribute  them  to  the  surgeons  and  apothecaries, 
and  principally  to  the  poor  wounded  soldiers,  who 
were  in  great  numbers  in  the  Hospital.  Which 
I  did,  and  can  truly  say  I  could  not  so  much  as  go 
and  see  all  the  wounded,  who  kept  sending  for  me 
to  visit  and  dress  them. 

All  the  seigneurs  within  the  town  asked  me  to  give 
special  care,  above  all  the  rest,  to  M.  de  Pienne,  who 
had  been  wounded,  while  on  the  breach,  by  a  stone 
shot  from  a  cannon,  on  the  temple,  with  fracture  and 
depression  of  the  bone.  They  told  me  that  so  soon 
as  he  received  the  blow,  he  fell  to  the  ground  as  dead, 
and  cast  forth  blood  by  the  mouth,  nose,  and  ears, 


6o  Ambroise  Pare 


with  great  vomiting,  and  was  fourteen  days  without 
being  able  to  speak  or  reason ;  also  he  had  tremors 
of  a  spasmodic  nature,  and  all  his  face  was  swelled 
and  livid.  He  was  trepanned  at  the  side  of  the  tem- 
poral muscle,  over  the  frontal  bone.  I  dressed  him, 
with  other  surgeons,  and  God  healed  him  ;  and  to- 
day he  is  still  living,  thank  God. 

The  Emperor  attacked  the  town  with  forty  double 
cannons,  and  the  powder  was  not  spared  day  or  night. 
So  soon  as  M.  de  Guise  saw  the  artillery  set  and 
pointed  to  make  a  breach,  he  had  the  nearest  houses 
pulled  down  and  made  into  ramparts,  and  the  beams 
and  joists  were  put  end  to  end,  and  between  them 
faggots,  earth,  beds,  and  wool-packs ;  then  they  put 
above  them  other  beams  and  joists  as  before.  And 
there  was  plenty  of  wood  from  the  houses  in  the 

suburbs;  which  had  1 en  razed  to  the  ground,  for 

fear  the  enemy  should  get  under  cover  of  them,  and 
make  use  of  the  wood  ;  it  did  very  well  for  repair- 
ing the  breach.  Everybody  was  hard  at  work  carry- 
ing earth  to  repair  it,  day  and  night ;  MM.  the  princes, 
the  seigneurs,  and  captains,  lieutenants,  ensigns,  were 
all  carrying  the  basket,  to  set  an  example  to  the  sol- 
diers and  citizens  to  do  the  like,  which  they  did  ; 
even  the  ladies  and  girls,  and  those  who  had  not  bas- 
kets, made  use  of  cauldrons,  panniers,  sacks,  sheets, 
and  all  such  things  to  carry  the  earth  ;  so  that  the 


FRANgOIS,  DUG  DE  GUISE. 

FROM   A  PRINT   BY  THERET. 
FROM   AN   ENGRAVING  IN   THE   PRINT-ROOM,  BRITISH    MUSEUM. 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  6i 


enemy  had  no  sooner  broken  down  the  wall  than 
they  found  behind  it  a  yet  stronger  rampart.  The 
wall  having  fallen,  our  men  cried  out  at  those  out- 
side, "Fox,  fox,  fox,"  and  they  vented  a  thousand 
insults  against  one  another.  M.  de  Guise  forbade 
any  man  on  pain  of  death  to  speak  with  those 
outside,  for  fear  there  should  be  some  traitor  who 
would  betray  what  was  being  done  within  the  town. 
After  this  order,  our  men  tied  live  cats  to  the  ends 
of  their  pikes,  and  put  them  over  the  wall  and  cried 
with  the  cats,  "  Miaut,  Miaut." 

Truly  the  Imperials  were  much  enraged,  having 
been  so  long  making  a  breach,  at  great  loss,  which 
was  eighty  paces  wide,  that  fifty  men  of  their  front 
rank  should  enter  in,  only  to  find  a  rampart  stronger 
than  the  wall.  They  threw  themselves  upon  the 
poor  cats,  and  shot  them  with  arquebuses  as  men 
shoot  at  the  popinjay. 

Our  men  often  ran  out  upon  them,  by  order  of  M. 
de  Guise;  a  few  days  ago,  our  men  had  all  made 
haste  to  enrol  themselves  in  sallying-parties,  chiefly 
the  young  nobihty,  led  by  experienced  captains  ;  and 
indeed  it  was  doing  them  a  great  favour  to  let  them 
issue  from  the  town  and  run  upon  the  enemy.  They 
went  forth  always  an  hundred  or  six  score  men,  well 
armed  with  cutlasses,  arquebuses,  pistols,  pikes,  par- 
tisans, and  halbards ;   and  advanced  as   far  as   the 


62  Ambroise  Pare 


trenches,  to  take  the  enemy  unawares.  Then  an 
alarum  would  be  sounded  all  through  the  enemy's 
camp,  and  their  drums  would  beat  plan,  plan,  ta  tita, 
ta  ta  ti  ta,  tou  touf  touf.  Likewise  their  trumpets 
and  clarions  rang  and  sounded,  To  saddle,  to  sad- 
dle, to  saddle,  to  horse,  to  horse,  to  horse,  to 
saddle,  to  horse,  to  horse.  And  all  their  soldiers 
cried,  "  Arm,  arm,  ai'm  /  to  arms,  to  arms,  to  arms  ! 
arm,  to  arms,  arm,  to  arms,  arm  "  .• — like  the  hue-and- 
cry  after  wolves ;  and  all  diverse  tongues,  accord- 
ing to  their  nations ;  and  you  saw  them  come  out 
of  their  tents  and  little  lodgings,  as  thick  as  little 
ants  when  you  uncover  the  ant-hills,  to  bring  help 
to  their  comrades,  who  were  having  their  throats 
cut  like  sheep.  Their  cavalry  also  came  from  all 
sides  at  full  gaXXo^,  patati,  patata,  patati,  patata,  pa, 
ta,  ta,  patata,  pata,  ta,  eager  to  be  in  the  thick  of 
the  fighting,  to  give  and  take  their  share  of  the 
blows.  And  when  our  men  saw  themselves  hard 
pressed,  they  would  turn  back  into  the  town,  fight- 
ing all  the  way;  and  those  pursuing  them  were 
driven  back  with  cannon-shots,  and  the  cannons  were 
loaded  with  flint-stones  and  with  big  pieces  of  iron, 
square  or  three-sided.  And  our  men  on  the  wall 
fired  a  volley,  and  rained  bullets  on  them  as  thick 
as  hail,  to  send  them  back  to  their  beds  ;  whereas 
many  remained  dead  on  the  field  :  and  our  men  also 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  63 


did  not  all  come  back  with  whole  skins,  and  there 
were  always  some  left  behind  (as  it  were  a  tax  levied 
on  us)  who  were  joyful  to  die  on  the  bed  of  honour. 
And  if  there  was  a  horse  wounded,  "it  was  skinned 
and  eaten  by  the  soldiers,  instead  of  beef  and 
bacon  ;  and  if  a  man  was  wounded,  I  must  run  and 
dress  him.  Some  days  afterward  there  were  other 
sallies,  which  infuriated  the  enemy,  that  we  would 
not  let  them  sleep  a  little  in  safety. 

M.  de  Guise  played  a  trick  upon  them  :  he  sent 
a  peasant,  who  was  none  of  the  wisest,  with  two 
letters  to  the  King,  and  gave  him  ten  crowns,  and 
promised  the  King  would  give  him  an  hundred  if  he 
got  the  letters  to  him.  In  the  one  letter  M.  de 
Guise  told  the  King  that  the  enemy  shewed  no 
signs  of  retreating,  and  had  put  forth  all  their 
strength  and  made  a  great  breach,  which  he  hoped 
to  defend,  even  at  the  cost  of  his  own  life  and  of  all 
who  were  in  the  town  ;  and  that  the  enemy  had 
planted  their  artillery  so  well  in  a  certain  place 
(which  he  named)  that  it  was  with  great  difficulty  he 
could  keep  them  from  entering  the  town,  seeing  it  was 
the  weakest  place  in  the  town  ;  but  soon  he  hoped 
to  rebuild  it  well,  so  that  they  should  not  be  able  to 
enter.  This  letter  was  sewed  in  the  lining  of  the 
man's  doublet,  and  he  was  told  to  be  very  careful 
not  to  speak  of  it  to  any  person.     And  the  other 


64  Ambroise  Pare 


letter  \vas  given  to  him.  wherein  M.  de  Guise  told 
the  King  that  he  and  all  those  besieged  with  him 
hoped  to  guard  the  town  well;  and  other  matters 
which  I  leave  untold  here.  He  sent  out  the  man  at 
night,  and  he  was  taken  by  the  enemy's  guard  and 
brought  to  the  Duke  of  Alva,  that  the  Duke  might 
hear  what  was  doing  in  the  town  ;  and  the  peasant 
was  asked  if  he  had  any  letters.  He  said  "Yes," 
and  gave  them  the  one  ;  and  they  having  seen  it 
asked  him  if  he  had  not  another.  He  said  "  No." 
Then  he  Avas  searched,  and  they  found  on  him  that 
which  was  sewed  in  his  doublet ;  and  the  poor  mes- 
senger was  hanged  and  strangled. 

The  letters  were  taken  to  the  Emperor,  who  called 
his  council,  where  it  was  resolved,  since  they  had 
been  unable  to  do  anything  at  the  first  breach,  the 
artillery  should  forthwith  be  set  against  the  place 
which  they  thought  weakest,  where  they  put  forth 
all  their  strength  to  make  a  fresh  breach  ;  and  they 
sapped  and  mined  the  wall,  and  tried  hard  to  make 
a  way  into  the  Hell  Tower,  but  dared  not  assault  it 
openly. 

The  Duke  of  Alva  represented  to  the  Emperor 
that  every  day  their  soldiers  were  dying,  to  the 
number  of  more  than  two  hundred,  and  there  was 
so  little  hope  of  entering  the  town,  seeing  the 
time  of  vear  and  the  ^reat  number  of  our  soldiers 


'•Journeys  in   Diverse  Places"  65 


who  were  in  it.  The  Emperor  asked  what  men 
they  were  who  were  dying,  and  whether  they  were 
gentlemen  and  men  of  mark  ;  answer  was  made  to 
him  "  They  were  all  poor  soldiers."  Then  said  he, 
"  It  was  no  great  loss  if  they  died,"  comparing  them 
to  caterpillars,  grasshoppers,  and  cockchafers,  which 
eat  up  the  buds  and  other  good  things  of  the  earth  ; 
and  if  they  were  men  of  any  worth  they  would  not 
be  in  his  camp  at  six  livres  the  month,  and  there- 
fore it  was  no  great  harm  if  they  died.  Moreover, 
he  said  he  would  never  depart  from  the  town 
till  he  had  taken  it  by  force  or  by  famine,  though 
he  should  lose  all  his  army  ;  because  of  the  great 
number  of  princes  who  were  shut  up  in  it,  with  the 
greater  part  of  the  nobility  of  France,  who  he  hoped 
would  pay  his  expenses  four  times  over ;  and  he 
would  go  yet  again  to  Paris,  to  see  the  Parisians,  and 
to  make  himself  King  of  all  the  kingdom  of  France. 
i\I.  de  Guise,  with  the  princes,  captains,  and  sol- 
diers, and  in  general  all  the  citizens  of  the  town, 
having  heard  the  Emperor's  resolve  to  exterminate 
us  all,  forbade  the  soldiers  and  citizens,  and  even 
the  princes  and  seigneurs,  to  eat  fresh  fish  or  venison, 
or  partridges,  woodcocks,  larks,  francolines,  plovers, 
or  other  game,  for  fear  these  had  acquired  any  pes- 
tilential air  Vi'hich  could  bring  infection  among  us. 

So  they  had  to  content  themselves  with  the  fare  of 
5 


66  Ambroise  Pare 


the  army ;  biscuit,  beef,  salt  cow-beef,  bacon,  cerve- 
las,  and  Mayence  hams  ;  also  fish,  as  haddock,  salmon, 
shad,  tunny,  whale,  anchovy,  sardines,  herrings  ;  also 
peas,  beans,  rice,  garlic,  onions,  prunes,  cheeses,  but- 
ter, oil,  and  salt ;  pepper,  ginger,  nutmegs  and  other 
spices  to  put  in  our  pies,  mostly  of  horses,  which 
without  the  spice  had  a  very  bad  taste.  Many  citi- 
zens, having  gardens  in  the  town,  had  planted  them 
with  fine  radishes,  turnips,  carrots,  and  leeks,  which 
they  kept  flourishing  and  very  dear,  for  the  extreme 
necessity  of  the  famine.  Now  all  these  stores  were 
distributed  by  weight,  measure,  and  justice,  accord- 
ing to  the  quality  of  the  persons,  because  we  knew 
not  how  long  the  siege  would  last.  For  after  we  heard 
the  Emperor's  words,  how  he  would  not  depart  from 
before  Metz,  till  he  had  taken  it  by  force  or  by 
famine,  the  victuals  were  cut  down  ;  and  what  they 
used  to  distribute  to  three  soldiers  was  given  to 
four ;  and  it  was  forbidden  to  them  to  sell  the  re- 
mains which  might  be  left  after  their  meals  ;  but  they 
might  give  them  to  the  rabble.  And  they  always 
rose  from  table  with  an  appetite,  for  fear  they  should 
be  subject  to  take  physick. 

And  before  we  surrendered  to  the  mercy  of  the  en- 
emy, we  had  determined  to  eat  the  asses,  mules,  and 
horses,  dogs,  cats,  and  rats,  even  our  boots  and  col- 
lars, and  other  skins  that  we  could  have  softened 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  67 


and  stewed.  And,  in  a  word,  all  the  besieged  were 
resolved  to  defend  themselves  valiantly  with  all  in- 
struments of  war ;  to  set  the  artillery  at  the  entry 
of  the  breach,  and  load  with  balls,  stones,  cart-nails, 
bars  and  chains  of  iron  ;  also  all  sorts  and  kinds  of 
artificial  fires,  as  barricadoes,  grenades,  stink-pots, 
torches,  squibs,  fire-traps,  burning  faggots  ;  with 
boiling  water,  melted  lead,  and  lime,  to  put  out  the 
enemy's  eyes.  Also,  they  were  to  make  holes  right 
through  their  houses,  and  put  arquebusiers  in  them, 
to  take  the  enemy  in  flank  and  hasten  his  going,  or 
else  give  him  stop  then  and  there.  Also  they  were 
to  order  the  women  to  pull  up  the  streets,  and  throw 
from  their  windows  billets,  tables,  trestles,  benches, 
and  stools,  to  dash  out  the  enemy's  brains.  More- 
over, a  little  within  the  breach,  there  was  a  great 
stronghold  full  of  carts  and  palisades,  tuns  and  casks  ; 
and  barricades  of  earth  to  serve  as  gabions,  interlaid 
with  falconets,  falcons,  field-pieces,  crooked  arque- 
buses, pistols,  arquebuses,  and  wild-fires,  to  break 
their  legs  and  thighs,  so  that  they  would  be  taken 
from  above  and  on  the  flank  and  from  behind  ;  and 
if  they  had  carried  this  stronghold,  there  were  others 
where  the  streets  crossed,  every  hundred  paces, 
which  would  have  been  as  bad  friends  to  them  as 
the  first,  or  worse,  and  would  have  made  many 
widows  and  orphans.     And  if  fortune  had  been  so 


68  Ambroise  Pare 


hard  on  us  that  they  had  stormed  and  broken  up  our 
strongholds,  there  would  yet  have  been  seven  great 
companies,  drawn  up  in  square  and  in  triangle,  to 
fight  them  all  at  once,  each  led  by  one  of  the 
princes,  for  the  better  encouragement  of  our  men  to 
fight  and  die  all  together,  even  to  the  last  breath  of 
their  souls.  And  all  were  resolved  to  bring  their 
treasures,  rings,  and  jewels,  and  their  best  and  rich- 
est and  most  beautiful  household  stuffs,  and  burn 
them  to  ashes  in  the  great  square,  lest  the  enemy 
should  take  them  and  make  trophies  of  them.  Also 
there  were  men  charged  to  set  fire  to  all  the  stores 
and  burn  them,  and  to  stave  in  all  the  wine-casks ; 
others  to  set  fire  to  every  single  house,  to  burn  the 
enemy  and  us  together.  The  citizens  thus  were  all 
of  one  mind,  rather  than  see  the  bloody  knife  at 
their  throats,  and  their  wives  and  daughters  ravished 
and  taken  by  the  cruel  savage  Spaniards. 

Now  we  had  certain  prisoners,  who  had  been  made 
secretly  to  understand  our  last  determination  and 
desperation  ;  these  prisoners  M.  de  Guise  sent  away 
on  parole,  who  being  come  to  their  camp,  lost  no 
time  in  saying  what  we  had  told  them  ;  which  re- 
strained the  great  and  vehement  desire  of  the  ene- 
my, so  that  they  were  no  longer  eager  to  enter  the 
town  to  cut  our  throats  and  enrich  themselves  with 
the  spoils.     The  Emperor,  having  heard  the  decision 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  69 


of  this  great  warrior,  M.  de  Guise,  put  water  in  his 
wine,  and  restrained  his  fury  ;  saying  that  he  could 
not  enter  the  town  save  with  vast  butchery  and 
carnage,  and  shedding  of  much  blood,  both  of  those 
defending  and  of  those  attacking,  and  they  would 
be  all  dead  together,  and  in  the  end  he  would  get 
nothing  but  ashes  ;  and  afterward  men  might  say  it 
was  a  like  destruction  to  that  of  the  town  of  Jerusa- 
lem, made  of  old  time  by  Titus  and  Vespasian. 

The  Emperor  thus  having  heard  our  last  resolve, 
and  seeing  how  little  he  had  gained  by  his  attack, 
sappings,  and  mines,  and  the  great  plague  that  was 
through  all  his  camp,  and  the  adverse  time  of  the 
year,  and  the  want  of  victuals  and  of  money,  and 
how  his  soldiers  were  disbanding  themselves  and 
going  off  in  great  companies,  decided  at  last  to 
raise  the  siege  and  go  away,  with  the  cavalry  of  his 
vanguard,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  artillery  and 
engines  of  war.  The  Marquis  of  Brandebourg  was 
the  last  to  budge  from  his  place  ;  he  had  with  him 
some  troops  of  Spaniards  and  Bohemians,  and  his 
German  regiments,  and  there  he  stopped  for  a  day 
and  a  half,  to  the  great  regret  of  M.  de  Guise,  who 
brought  four  pieces  of  artillery  out  of  the  town, 
which  he  fired  on  him  this  side  and  that,  to  hurry 
him  off:  and  off  he  went,  sure  enough,  and  all  his 
men  with  him. 


JO  Ambroise  Par6 


When  he  was  a  quarter  of  a  league  from  Metz,  he 
was  seized  with  a  panic  lest  our  cavalry  should  fall 
upon  his  tail  ;  so  he  set  fire  to  his  store  of  powder, 
and  left  behind  him  some  pieces  of  artillery,  and  a 
quantity  of  baggage,  which  he  could  not  take  along 
with  him,  because  their  vanguard  and  their  great  can- 
nons had  broken  and  torn  up  the  roads.  Our  cav- 
alry were  longing  with  all  their  hearts  to  issue  from 
the  town  and  attack  him  behind  ;  but  M.  de  Guise 
would  never  let  them,  saying  on  the  contrary  we 
had  better  make  their  way  smooth  for  them,  and 
build  them  gold  and  silver  bridges  to  let  them  go  ; 
like  the  good  pastor  and  shepherd,  who  will  not  lose 
one  of  his  sheep. 

That  is  how  our  dear  and  well-beloved  Imperials 
went  away  from  Metz,  which  was  the  day  after 
Christmas  Day,  to  the  great  content  of  those  within 
the  walls,  and  the  praise  of  the  princes,  seigneurs, 
captains,  and  soldiers,  who  had  endured  the  travail 
of  this  siege  for  more  than  two  months.  Nevertheless, 
they  did  not  all  go  :  there  wanted  more  than  twenty 
thousand  of  them,  who  were  dead,  from  our  artillery 
and  the  fighting,  or  from  plague,  cold,  and  starva- 
tion (and  from  spite  and  rage  that  they  could  not  get 
into  the  town  to  cut  our  throats  and  plunder  us)  : 
and  many  of  their  horses  also  died,  the  greater  part 
whereof  they  had  eaten  instead  of  beef  and  bacon. 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  71 


We  went  where  their  camp  had  been,  where  we  found 
many  dead  bodies  not  yet  buried,  and  the  earth  all 
worked  up,  as  one  sees  in  the  Cemetery  of  the  Holy 
Innocents  during  some  time  of  many  deaths.  In 
their  tents,  pavilions,  and  lodgings  were  many  sick 
people.  Also  cannon-shot,  weapons,  carts,  waggons, 
and  other  baggage,  with  a  great  quantity  of  soldier's 
bread,  spoiled  and  rotted  by  the  snows  and  rains 
(yet  the  soldiers  had  it  but  by  weight  and  measure). 
Also  they  left  a  good  store  of  wood,  all  that  remained 
of  the  houses  they  had  demolished  and  broken  down 
in  the  villages  for  two  or  three  leagues  around  ;  also 
many  other  pleasure-houses,  that  had  belonged  to 
our  citizens,  with  gardens  and  fine  orchards  full  of 
diverse  fruit-trees.  And  without  all  this,  they  would 
have  been  benumbed  and  dead  of  the  cold,  and 
forced  to  raise  the  siege  sooner  than  they  did. 

M.  de  Guise  had  their  dead  buried,  and  their  sick 
people  treated.  Also  the  enemy  left  behind  them  in 
the  Abbey  of  Saint  Arnoul  many  of  their  wounded 
soldiers,  whom  they  could  not  possibly  take  with 
them.  M.  de  Guise  sent  them  all  victuals  enough, 
and  ordered  me  and  the  other  surgeons  to  go  dress 
and  physick  them,  which  we  did  with  a  good  will ; 
and  I  think  they  would  not  have  done  the  like  for 
our  men.  For  the  Spaniard  is  very  cruel,  treacher- 
ous, and  inhuman,  and  so  far  enemy  of  all  nations: 


72  Ambroise  Pare 


which  is  proved  by  Lopez  the  Spaniard,  and  Benzo 
of  Milan,  and  others  who  have  written  the  history 
of  America  and  the  West  Indies :  who  have  had  to 
confess  that  the  cruelty,  avarice,  blasphemies,  and 
wickedness  of  the  Spaniards  have  utterly  estranged 
the  poor  Indians  from  the  religion  that  these  Span- 
iards professed.  And  all  write  that  they  are  of  less 
worth  than  the  idolatrous  Indians,  for  their  cruel 
treatment  of  these  Indians. 

And  some  days  later  M.  de  Guise  sent  a  trumpet 
to  Thionville  to  the  enemy,  that  they  could  send  for 
their  wounded  in  safety :  which  they  did  with  carts 
and  waggons,  but  not  enough.  M.  de  Guise  gave  them 
carts  and  carters,  to  help  to  take  them  to  Thionville. 
Our  carters  when  they  returned  told  us  the  roads 
were  all  paved  with  dead  bodies,  and  they  never  got 
half  the  men  there,  for  they  died  in  their  carts :  and 
the  Spaniards  seeing  them  at  the  point  of  death,  be- 
fore they  had  breathed  their  last,  threw  them  out  of 
the  carts  and  buried  them  in  the  mud  and  mire,  say- 
ing they  had  no  orders  to  bring  back  dead  men. 
Moreover,  our  carters  said  they  had  found  on  the 
roads  many  carts  stuck  in  the  mud,  full  of  baggage, 
for  which  the  enemy  dared  not  send  back,  lest  we 
who  were  within  Metz  should  run  out  upon  them. 

I  would  return  to  the  reason  why  so  many  of 
them  died  ;  which  was  mostly  starvation,  the  plague, 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  ^2) 


and  cold.  For  the  snow  was  more  than  two  feet 
deep  upon  the  ground,  and  they  were  lodged  in  pits 
below  the  ground,  covered  only  with  a  little  thatch. 
Nevertheless,  each  soldier  had  his  camp-bed,  and  a 
coverlet  all  strewed  with  stars,  glittering  and  shining 
brighter  than  fine  gold,  and  every  day  they  had  white 
sheets,  and  lodged  at  the  sign  of  the  Moon,  and  en- 
joyed themselves  if  only  they  had  been  able,  and  paid 
their  host  so  well  over  night  that  in  the  morning  they 
went  off  quits,  shaking  their  ears  :  and  they  had  no 
need  of  a  comb  to  get  the  down  and  feathers  out  of 
their  beards  and  hair,  and  they  always  found  a  white 
table-cloth,  and  would  have  enjoyed  good  meals  but 
for  want  of  food.  Also  the  greater  part  of  them 
had  neither  boots,  half-boots,  slippers,  hose,  nor 
shoes :  and  most  of  them  would  rather  have  none 
than  any,  because  they  were  always  in  the  mire  up 
to  mid-leg.  And  because  they  went  bare-foot,  we 
called  them  the  Emperor's  Apostles. 

After  the  camp  was  wholly  dispersed,  I  distributed 
my  patients  into  the  hands  of  the  surgeons  of  the 
town,  to  finish  dressing  them :  then  I  took  leave  of 
M.  de  Guise,  and  returned  to  the  King,  who  received 
me  with  great  favour,  and  asked  me  how  I  had  been 
able  to  make  my  way  into  Metz.  I  told  him  fully 
all  that  I  had  done.  He  gave  me  two  hundred 
crowns,  and  an  hundred  which  I  had  when  I  set  out : 


74  Ambroise  Pare 


and  said  he  would  never  leave  me  poor.  Then  I 
thanked  him  very  humbly  for  the  good  and  the 
honour  he  was  pleased  to  do  me. 

The  Journey  to  Hesdin.     1553. 

The  Emperor  Charles  laid  siege  to  the  town  of 
Theroiienne ;  and  M.  le  Due  de  Savoie  was  General 
of  his  whole  army.  It  was  taken  by  assault :  and 
there  was  a  great  number  of  our  men  killed  and 
taken  prisoners. 

The  King,  wishing  to  prevent  the  enemy  from 
besieging  the  town  and  castle  of  Hesdin  also,  sent 
thither  MM.  le  Due  de  Bouillon,  le  Due  Horace,  le 
Marquis  de  Villars,  and  a  number  of  captains,  and 
about  eighteen  hundred  soldiers :  and  during  the 
siege  of  Theroiienne,  these  Seigneurs  fortified  the 
castle  of  Hesdin,  so  that  it  seemed  to  be  impregnable. 
The  King  sent  me  to  the  Seigneurs,  to  help  them 
with  my  art,  if  they  should  come  to  have  need  of  it. 

Soon  after  the  capture  of  Theroiienne,  we  were 
besieged  in  Hesdin.  There  was  a  clear  stream  of 
running  water  within  shot  of  our  cannon,  and  about 
it  were  fourscore  or  an  hundred  of  the  enemy's 
rabble,  drawing  water.  I  was  on  a  rampart  watching 
the  enemy  pitch  their  camp  ;  and  seeing  the  crowd  of 
idlers  round  the  stream,  I  asked  M.  du  Pont,  com- 
missary of  the  artillery,   to  send  one   cannon-shot 


igMiiiiir'i/wi)»i 


^^m^^lSUBSSSSSSS^SSSSimfMMi 


mmwfmmmmmmmmmmmmfniimHnim' 


(T^WlWff^ 


j^^^^EEHlwjnpjJw^^ 


..^^^^mmmmMmmmmvmmi(!iwfmmf)>'rii>mimPlfi 


;^^^^ 


gaEjTTOj^- 


^ 


33; 


^  ^^^1.  ^^^^^^' ^""gS^ 


VARIOUS  ARROWS,  AND  DETACHABLE  ARROW-HEADS. 

FROM    PARC's  WORKS. 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  75 


among  this  canaille  :  he  gave  me  a  flat  refusal,  say- 
ing that  all  this  sort  of  people  was  not  worth  the 
powder  would  be  wasted  on  them.  Again  I  begged 
him  to  level  the  cannon,  telling  him,  "  The  more 
dead,  the  fewer  enemies  "  ;  which  he  did  for  my  sake : 
and  the  shot  killed  fifteen  or  sixteen,  and  wounded 
many.  Our  men  made  sorties  against  the  enemy, 
wherein  many  were  killed  and  wounded  on  both 
sides,  with  gunshot  or  with  fighting  hand  to  hand ; 
and  our  men  often  sallied  out  before  their  trenches 
were  made ;  so  that  I  had  my  work  cut  out  for  me, 
and  had  no  rest  either  day  or  night  for  dressing  the 
wounded. 

And  here  I  would  note  that  we  had  put  many  of 
them  in  a  great  tower,  laying  them  on  a  little  straw : 
and  their  pillows  were  stones,  their  coverlets  were 
cloaks,  those  who  had  any.  When  the  attack  was 
made,  so  often  as  the  enemy's  cannons  were  fired, 
our  wounded  said  they  felt  pain  in  their  wounds,  as 
if  you  had  struck  them  with  a  stick  :  one  was  crying 
out  on  his  head,  the  other  on  his  arm,  and  so  with 
the  other  parts  of  the  body  :  and  many  had  their 
wounds  bleed  again,  even  more  profusely  than  at 
the  time  they  were  wounded,  and  then  I  had  to  run 
to  staunch  them.  Mon  petit  maistre,  if  you  had 
been  there,  you  would  have  been  much  hindered 
with  your  hot  irons  ;  you  would  have  wanted  a  lot 


76  Ambroise  Par^ 


of  charcoal  to  heat  them  red,  and  sure  you  would 
have  been  killed  like  a  calf  for  your  cruelty.  Many 
died  of  the  diabolical  storm  of  the  echo  of  these  en- 
gines of  artillery,  and  the  vehement  agitation  and  se- 
vere shock  of  the  air  acting  on  their  wounds  ;  others 
because  they  got  no  rest  for  the  shouting  and  crying 
that  were  made  day  and  night,  and  for  want  of  good 
food,  and  other  things  needful  for  their  treatment. 
Mon  petit  maistre,  if  you  had  been  there,  no  doubt 
you  could  have  given  them  jelly,  restoratives,  gravies, 
pressed  meats,  broth,  barley-water,  almond-milk, 
blanc-mange,  prunes,  plums,  and  other  food  proper 
for  the  sick  ;  but  your  diet  would  have  been  only  on 
paper,  and  in  fact  they  had  nothing  but  beef  of 
old  shrunk  cows,  seized  round  Hesdin  for  our  pro- 
vision, salted  and  half-cooked,  so  that  he  who  would 
eat  it  must  drag  at  it  with  his  teeth,  as  birds  of  prey 
tear  their  food.  Nor  must  I  forget  the  linen  for 
dressing  their  wounds,  which  was  only  washed  daily 
and  dried  at  the  fire,  till  it  was  as  hard  as  parchment : 
I  leave  you  to  think  how  their  v/ounds  could  do  well. 
There  were  four  big  fat  rascally  women  who  had 
charge  to  whiten  the  linen,  and  were  kept  at  it  with 
the  stick ;  and  yet  they  had  not  water  enough  to  do 
it,  much  less  soap.  That  is  how  the  poor  patients 
died,  for  want  of  food  and  other  necessar)^  things. 
)V    One  day  the  enemy  feigned  a  general  attack,  to 


"Journeys  in   Diverse  Places"  ^"j 


draw  our  soldiers  into  the  breach,  that  they  might 
see  what  we  were  like  :  every  man  ran  thither.  We 
had  made  a  great  store  of  artificial  fires  to  defend 
the  breach ;  a  priest  of  M.  le  Due  de  Bouillon  took 
a  grenade,  thinking  to  throw  it  at  the  enemy,  and 
lighted  it  before  he  ought :  it  burst,  and  set  fire  to 
all  our  store,  which  was  in  a  house  near  the  breach. 
This  was  a  terrible  disaster  for  us,  because  it  burned 
many  poor  soldiers ;  it  even  caught  the  house,  and 
we  had  all  been  burned,  but  for  help  given  to  put  it 
out ;  there  was  only  one  well  in  the  castle  with  any 
water  in  it,  and  this  was  almost  dry,  and  we  took 
beer  to  put  it  out  instead  of  water ;  afterward  we 
were  in  great  want  of  water,  and  to  drink  what  was 
left  we  must  strain  it  through  napkins. 

The  enemy,  seeing  the  explosion  and  violence  of 
the  fires,  which  made  a  wonderful  flame  and  thun- 
dering, thought  we  had  lit  them  on  purpose  to 
defend  the  breach,  and  that  we  had  many  more  of 
them.  This  made  them  change  their  minds,  to  have 
us  some  other  way  than  by  attack  :  they  dug  niines, 
and  sapped  the  greater  part  of  our  walls,  till  they 
came  near  turning  our  castle  altogether  upside  down ; 
and  when  the  sappers  had  finished  their  work,  and 
their  artillery  was  fired,  all  the  castle  shook  under 
our  feet  like  an  earthquake,  to  our  great  astonish- 
ment.     Moreover,  they  had  levelled  five  pieces  of 


78  Ambroise  Pare 


artillery,  which  they  had  placed  on  a  little  hillock,  so 
as  to  have  us  from  behind  when  we  were  gone  to  de- 
fend the  breach.  M.  le  Due  Horace  had  a  cannon- 
shot  on  the  elbow,  which  carried  off  his  arm  one 
w^ay  and  his  body  the  other,  before  he  could  say  a 
single  word  ;  his  death  was  a  great  disaster  to  us, 
for  the  high  rank  that  he  held  in  the  town.  Also 
M.  de  Martigues  had  a  gunshot  wound  which  pierced 
his  lungs :  I  dressed  him,  as  I  shall  tell  hereafter. 

Then  we  asked  leave  to  speak  with  the  enemy; 
and  a  trumpet  was  sent  to  the  Prince  of  Piedmont, 
to  know  what  terms  he  would  give  us.  He  an- 
swered that  all  the  leaders,  such  as  gentlemen,  cap- 
tains, lieutenants,  and  ensigns,  would  be  taken 
prisoners  for  ransom,  and  the  soldiers  would  leave 
the  town  without  their  arms ;  and  if  we  refused  this 
fair  and  honest  offer,  we  might  rest  assured  they 
would  take  us  next  day,  by  attack  or  otherwise. 

A  council  was  held,  to  which  I  was  called,  to  know 
if  I  would  sign  the  surrender  of  the  town  ;  with  many 
captains,  gentlemen,  and  others.  I  answered  it  was 
not  possible  to  hold  the  town,  and  I  would  sign  the 
surrender  with  my  own  blood,  for  the  little  hope  I 
had  we  could  resist  the  enemy's  forces,  and  for  the 
great  longing  I  had  to  be  out  of  this  hell  and  utter 
torture ;  for  I  slept  neither  night  nor  day  for  the 
great  number  of  the  wounded,  who  were  about  two 


"Journeys  in   Diverse  Places"  79 


hundred.  The  dead  were  advanced  in  putrefaction, 
piled  one  upon  the  other  like  faggots,  and  not 
covered  with  earth,  because  we  had  none.  And  if  I 
went  into  a  soldier's  lodging,  there  were  soldiers 
waiting  for  me  at  the  door  when  I  came  out,  for  me 
to  dress  others  ;  it  was  who  should  have  me,  and 
they  carried  me  like  the  body  of  a  saint,  with  my 
feet  off  the  ground,  fighting  for  me.  I  could  not 
satisfy  this  great  number  of  wounded  :  nor  had  I 
got  what  I  wanted  for  their  treatment.  For  it  is 
not  enough  that  the  surgeon  do  his  duty  toward  his 
patients,  but  the  patient  also  must  do  his;  and  the 
assistants,  and  external  things,  must  work  together 
for  him  :  see  Hippocrates,  Aphorism  the  First. 

Having  heard  that  we  were  to  surrender  the  place, 
I  knew  our  business  was  not  prospering ;  and  for 
fear  of  being  known,  I  gave  a  velvet  coat,  a  satin 
doublet,  and  a  cloak  of  fine  cloth  trimmed  with  vel- 
vet, to  a  soldier;  who  gave  me  a  bad  doublet  all  torn 
and  ragged  with  wear,  and  a  frayed  leather  collar, 
and  a  bad  hat,  and  a  short  cloak;  I  dirtied  the  neck 
of  my  shirt  with  water  mixed  with  a  little  soot,  I 
rubbed  my  hose  with  a  stone  at  the  knees  and  over 
the  heels,  as  though  they  had  been  long  worn,  I  did 
the  same  to  my  shoes,  till  one  would  have  taken 
me  for  a  chimney-sweep  rather  than  a  King's  surgeon. 
I  went  in  this  gear  to  M.  de  Martigues,  and  prayed 


8o  Ambroise  Pare 


him  to  arrange  I  should  stop  with  him  to  dress  him ; 
which  he  granted  very  wiUingly,  and  was  as  glad  I 
should  be  near  him  as  I  was  myself. 

Soon  afterward,  the  commissioners  who  were  to 
select  the  prisoners  entered  the  castle,  the  seven- 
teenth day  of  July,  1553.  They  took  prisoners  MM. 
le  Due  de  Bouillon,  le  Marquis  de  Villars,  de  Roze,  le 
Baron  de  Culan,  M.  du  Pont,  commissary  of  the  artil- 
lery, and  M.  de  Martigues ;  and  me  with  him,  be- 
cause he  asked  them ;  and  all  the  gentlemen  who 
they  knew  could  pay  ransom,  and  most  of  the  sol- 
diers and  the  leaders  of  companies ;  so  many  and 
such  prisoners  as  they  wished.  And  then  the  Spanish 
soldiers  entered  by  the  breach,  unresisted ;  our  men 
thought  they  would  keep  their  faith  and  agreement 
that  all  lives  should  be  spared.  They  entered  the 
town  in  a  fury  to  kill,  plunder,  and  ravage  every- 
thing: they  took  a  few  men,  hoping  to  have  ransom 
for  them.*  ...  If  they  saw  they  could  not  get 
it,  they  cruelly  put  them  to  death  in  cold  blood.* 
.  .  .  And  they  killed  them  all  with  daggers,  and 
cut  their  throats.  Such  was  their  great  cruelty  and 
treachery  ;  let  him  trust  them  who  will. 

To  return  to  my  story  :  when  I  was  taken  from  the 
castle  into  the  town,  with  M.  de  Martigues,  there 
was  one  of  M.  de  Savoie's  gentlemen,  who  asked  me 

*  An  account  of  the  torture  is  here  omitted. 


"Journeys  in   Diverse  Places"  8i 


if  M.  de  Martigues's  wound  could  be  cured.  I  told 
him  no,  that  it  was  incurable :  and  off  he  went 
to  tell  M.  le  Due  de  Savoie.  I  bethought  my- 
self they  would  send  physicians  and  surgeons  to 
dress  M.  de  Martigues ;  and  I  argued  within  myself 
if  I  ought  to  play  the  simpleton,  and  not  let  myself 
be  known  for  a  surgeon,  lest  they  should  keep  me  to 
dress  their  wounded,  and  in  the  end  I  should  be 
found  to  be  the  King's  surgeon,  and  they  would 
make  me  pay  a  big  ransom.  On  the  other  hand,  I 
feared,  if  I  did  not  show  I  was  a  surgeon  and  had 
dressed  M.  de  Martigues  skilfully,  they  would  cut 
my  throat.  Forthwith  I  made  up  my  mind  to  show 
them  he  would  hot  die  for  want  of  having  been  well 
dressed  and  nursed. 

Soon  after,  sure  enough,  there  came  many  gen- 
tlemen, with  the  Emperor's  physician,  and  his  sur- 
geon, and  those  belonging  to  M.  de  Savoie,  and  six 
other  surgeons  of  his  army,  to  see  M.  de  Martigues' 
wound,  and  to  know  of  me  how  I  had  dressed 
and  treated  it.  The  Emperor's  physician  bade  me 
declare  the  essential  nature  of  the  wound,  and  what 
I  had  done  for  it.  And  all  his  assistants  kept  their 
ears  wide  open,  to  know  if  the  wound  were  or  were 
not  mortal.  I  commenced  my  discourse  to  them, 
how  M.  de  Martigues,  looking  over  the  wall  to  mark 
those  who  were  sapping  it,  was  shot  with  an  arque- 

6 


82  Ambroise  Pare 

bus  through  the  body,  and  I  was  called  of  a  sudden 
to  dress  him.  I  found  blood  coming  from  his 
mouth  and  from  his  wounds.  Moreover,  he  had  a 
great  difficulty  of  breathing  in  and  out.  and  air  came 
whistling  from  the  wounds,  so  that  it  would  have  put 
out  a  candle  ;  and  he  said  he  had  a  very  great  stab- 
bing pain  where  the  bullet  had  entered.  "^  .  .  .  I 
withdrew  some  scales_of  bone,  and  put  in  each 
Avound  a  tent  with  a  large  head,  fastened  with  a 
thread,  lest  on  inspiration  it  should  be  drawn  into 
the  cavity  of  the  chest  ;  v/hich  has  happened  vrith 
surgeons,  to  the  detriment  of  the  poor  wounded  ; 
for  being  fallen  in,  you  cannot  get  them  out ;  and 
then  they  beget  corruption,  being  foreign  bodies. 
The  tents  were  anointed  with  a  preparation  of  yolk 
of  egg,  Venice  turpentine,  and  a  little  oil  of  roses. 
.  .  .  I  put  over  the  wounds  a  great  plaster  of 
diach3'lum,  wherewith  I  had  mixed  oil  of  roses,  and 
vinegar,  to  avoid  inflammation.  Then  I  applied 
great  compresses  steeped  in  oxycrate,  and  bandaged 
him,  not  too  tight,  that  he  might  breathe  easih,-. 
Next,  I  drew  five  basons  of  blood  from  his  right  arm, 
considering  his  youth  and  his  sanguine  tempera- 
ment. .  .  .  Fever  took  him,  soon  after  he  vras 
wounded,  with  feebleness  of  the  heart.     .     .     .     His 

*  Details  of  the  case,  here  omitted,  show  that  it  was  hopeless  from 
the  first. 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  83 


diet  was  barley-water,  prunes  with  sugar,  at  other 
times  broth  :  his  drink  was  a  ptisane.  He  could  lie 
only  on  his  back.  .  .  .  What  more  shall  I  say? 
but  that  my  Lord  de  Martigues  never  had  an  hour's 
rest  after  he  was  wounded.  .  .  .  These  things 
considered,  Gentlemen,  no  other  prognosis  is  possi- 
ble, save  that  he  will  die  in  a  few  days,  to  my  great 
grief. 

Having  finished  my  discourse,  I  dressed  him  as  I 
was  accustomed.  When  I  displayed  his  wounds, 
the  physicians  and  surgeons,  and  other  assistants 
present,  knew  the  truth  of  what  I  had  said.  The 
physicians,  having  felt  his  pulse  and  seen  that  the 
vital  forces  were  depressed  and  spent,  agreed  with 
me  that  in  a  few  days  he  would  die.  Then  they 
all  went  to  the  Due  de  Savoie,  and  told  him  M.  de 
Martigues  would  die  in  a  short  time.  He  answered 
them,  "  Possibly,  if  he  had  been  well  dressed,  he 
might  have  escaped  death."  Then  they  all  with  one 
voice  said  he  had  been  very  well  dressed  and  cared 
for  altogether,  and  it  could  not  be  better,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  cure  him,  and  his  wound  was  of  neces- 
sity mortal.  Then  M.  de  Savoie  was  very  angry 
with  them,  and  cried,  and  asked  them  again  if  for 
certain  they  all  held  his  case  hopeless  :  they  answered, 
yes. 

Then  a  Spanish  impostor  came  forward,  who  prom- 


84  Ambroise  Pare 


ised  on  his  life  to  cure  him  ;  and  if  he  did  not,  they 
should  cut  him  in  an  hundred  pieces ;  but  he  would 
have  no  physicians,  nor  surgeons,  nor  apothecaries 
with  him  :  and  M.  le  Due  de  Savoie  forthwith  bade 
the  physicians  and  surgeons  not  go  near  M.  de  Mar- 
tigues  ;  and  sent  a  gentleman  to  bid  me,  under  pain 
of  death,  not  so  much  as  to  touch  him.  Which  I 
promised,  and  was  very  glad,  for  now  he  would  not 
die  under  my  hands  ;  and  the  impostor  was  told  to 
dress  him,  and  to  have  with  him  no  other  physicians 
or  surgeons,  but  only  himself.  By  and  bye  he  came, 
and  said  to  M.  de  Martigues,  "  Senor  Cavallero, 
M.  de  Savoie  has  bid  me  come  and  dress  your  wound. 
I  swear  to  God,  before  eight  days  I  will  set  you  on 
horseback,  lance  in  hand,  provided  none  touch  you 
but  I  alone.  You  shall  eat  and  drink  whatever 
you  like.  I  will  be  dieted  instead  of  you  ;  and  you 
may  trust  me  to  perform  what  I  promise.  I  have 
cured  many  who  had  worse  wounds  than  yours." 
And  the  Seigneurs  answered  him,  "  God  give  you 
His  grace  for  it." 

He  asked  for  a  shirt  of  M.  de  Martigues,  and  tore 
it  in  little  strips,  which  he  laid  cross-wise,  muttering 
and  murmuring  certain  words  over  the  wounds:  hav- 
ing done  this  much  for  him,  he  let  him  eat  and  drink 
all  he  would,  saying  he  himself  would  be  dieted  in 
his  stead ;  which  he  did,  eating  but  six  prunes  and 


"  Journeys  in  Diverse  Places  "  85 


six  morsels  of  bread  for  dinner,  and  drinking  only 
beer.  Nevertheless,  two  days  later,  M.  de  Martigues 
died  :  and  my  friend  the  Spaniard,  seeing  him  at 
the  point  of  death,  eclipsed  himself,  and  got  away 
Avithout  good-bye  to  any  man.  And  I  believe  if  he 
had  been  caught  he  would  have  been  hanged  and 
strangled,  for  the  false  promise  he  made  to  M.  le  Due 
de  Savoie  and  many  other  gentlemen.  M.  de  Mar- 
tigues died  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning ;  and 
after  dinner  M.  de  Savoie  sent  the  physicians  and 
surgeons,  and  his  apothecary,  with  a  store  of  drugs  to 
embalm  him.  They  came  with  many  gentlemen  and 
captains  of  his  army. 

The  Emperor's  surgeon  came  to  me,  and  asked 
me  in  a  very  friendly  way  to  make  the  embalment ; 
which  I  refused,  saying  that  I  was  not  worthy  to 
carry  his  instrument-box  after  him.  He  begged  me 
again  to  do  it  to  please  him,  and  that  he  would  be 
very  glad  of  it.  .  .  .  Seeing  his  kindness,  and 
fearing  to  displease  him,  I  then  decided  to  show  them 
the  anatomist  that  I  was,  expounding  to  them  many 
things,  which  would  here  be  too  long  to  recite.*  .  . 
Our  discourse  finished,  I  embalmed  the  body  ;  and  it 
was  placed  in  a  cofifin.  Then  the  Emperor's  surgeon 
drew  me  aside,  and  told  me,  if  I  would  stop  with 
him,  he  would  treat  me  well,  and  give  me  a  new  suit 
*  A  discourse  on  anatomy  is  here  omitted. 


86  Ambroise  Pare 


of  clothes,  and  set  me  on  horseback.  I  gave  him 
many  thanks,  and  said  I  had  no  wish  to  serve  any 
country  but  my  own.*  Then  he  told  me  I  was  a 
fool,  and  if  he  were  a  prisoner  as  I  was,  he  would 
serve  a  devil  to  get  his  freedom.  In  the  end  I  told 
him  flat  I  would  not  stop  with  him.  The  Emperor's 
physician  then  went  back  to  M.  de  Savoie,  and  ex- 
plained to  him  the  causes  of  M.  de  Martigues'  death, 
and  that  it  was  impossible  for  all  the  men  in  the 
world  to  have  cured  him  ;  and  assured  him  again  I 
had  done  all  that  was  to  be  done,  and  besought  him 
to  take  me  into  his  service  ;  saying  much  more  good 
of  me  than  there  was.  He  having  been  persuaded  to 
do  this,  sent  to  me  one  of  his  stewards,  M.  du  Bouchet, 
to  tell  me,  if  I  would  serve  him,  he  would  use  me 
well  ;  I  sent  back  my  very  humble  thanks,  and  that 
I  had  decided  not  to  take  service  under  any  foreigner. 
When  he  heard  my  answer  he  was  very  angry,  and 
said  I  ought  to  be  sent  to  the  galleys. 

M.  de  Vaudeville,  Governor  of  Graveline,  and 
colonel  of  seventeen  ensigns  of  infantry,  asked  him 
to  send  me  to  him,  to  dress  an  old  ulcer  on  his  leg, 
that  he  had  had  for  six  or  seven  years.  M.  de  Savoie 
said  he  was  willing,  so  far  as  I  was  concerned ;  and 
if  I  used  the  cautery  to  his  leg,  it  would  serve  him 
right.  M.  de  Vaudeville  answered,  if  he  saw  me  try- 
*  Brave  response. — A.  P. 


"  Journeys  in  Diverse  Places  "         87 

ing  it,  he  would  have  my  throat  cut.  Soon  after,  he 
sent  for  me  four  German  halberdiers  of  his  guard  ; 
and  I  was  terrified,  for  I  did  not  know  where  they 
were  taking  me :  they  spoke  no  more  French  than  I 
German.  When  I  was  come  to  his  lodging,  he  bade 
me  welcome,  and  said,  now  I  belonged  to  him  ;  and 
so  soon  as  I  had  healed  him,  he  would  let  me  go 
without  ransom.  I  told  him  I  had  no  means  to  pay 
any  ransom.  He  called  his  physician  and  his  surgeon- 
in-ordinary,  to  show  me  his  leg ;  and  when  we  had 
examined  it,  Ave  withdrew  into  a  room,  where  I 
began  my  discourse  to  them.'^  .  .  .  Then  the 
physician  left  me  with  the  surgeon,  and  went  back 
to  M.  de  Vaudeville,  and  said  he  was  sure  I  could 
cure  him,  and  told  him  all  I  had  decided  to  do  ; 
which  pleased  him  vastly.  He  sent  for  me,  and 
asked  if  I  thought  I  could  cure  him  ;  I  said  yes, 
if  he  were  obedient  to  what  was  necessary.  He 
promised  to  do  only  what  I  wished  and  ordered  ;  and 
so  soon  as  he  was  healed,  he  would  let  me  go  home 
without  ransom.  Then  I  asked  him  to  make  better 
terms  with  me,  saying  it  was  too  long  to  wait  for 
my  liberty  :  in  fifteen  days  I  hoped  his  ulcer  would 
be  less  than  half  its  present  size,  and  give  no  pain  ; 
then  his  own  surgeon  and  physician  could  finish  the 
cure.  He  granted  this  to  me.  Then  I  took  a  piece 
*  A  long  surgical  discourse  is  here  omitted. 


88  Ambroise  Pare 

of  paper  to  measure  the  size  of  the  ulcer,  and  gave 
it  to  him,  and  kept  another  by  me  ;  I  asked  him  to 
keep  his  promise,  when  I  had  done  my  work  ;  he 
swore  by  the  faith  of  a  gentleman  he  would.  Then 
I  set  myself  to  dress  him  properly,  after  the  manner 
of  Galen.  .  .  He  wished  to  know  if  it  were  true, 
what  I  said  of  Galen,  and  bade  his  physician  look 
to  it,  for  he  would  know  it  for  himself ;  he  had  the 
book  put  on  the  table,  and  found  that  what  I  said 
was  true  ;  so  the  physician  was  ashamed,  and  I  was 
glad.  Within  the  fifteen  days,  it  was  almost  all 
healed  ;  and  I  began  to  feel  happy  about  the 
compact  made  between  us.  He  had  me  to  eat  and 
drink  at  his  table,  when  there  were  no  more  great 
persons  than  he  and  I  only.  He  gave  me  a  big  red 
scarf  which  I  must  wear  ;  which  made  me  feel  some- 
thing like  a  dog  when  they  give  him  a  clog,  to  stop 
him  eating  the  grapes  in  the  vineyards.  His  physi- 
cian and  surgeon  took  me  through  the  camp  to  visit 
their  wounded  ;  and  I  took  care  to  observe  what  our 
enemy  was  doing.  I  found  they  had  no  more  great 
cannons,  but  only  twenty- five  or  thirty  field-pieces. 

M.  de  Vaudeville  held  prisoner  M.  de  Bauge,  bro- 
ther of  M.  de  Martigues  who  died  at  Hesdin.  M. 
de  Baug6  was  prisoner  at  Chateau  de  La  Motte  au 
Bois,  belonging  to  the  Emperor  ;  he  had  been  cap- 
tured at  Theroiienne  by  two  Spanish  soldiers  ;  and 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  89 


M.  de  Vaudeville,  when  he  saw  him  there,  con- 
cluded he  must  be  some  gentleman  of  good  family : 
he  made  him  pull  off  his  stockings,  and  seeing  his 
clean  legs  and  feet,  and  his  fine  white  stockings, 
knew  he  was  one  to  pay  a  good  ransom.  He  told  the 
soldiers  he  would  give  them  thirty  crowns  down 
for  their  prisoner :  they  agreed  gladly,  for  they  had 
no  place  to  keep  him,  nor  food  for  him,  nor  did  they 
know  his  value :  so  they  gave  their  man  into  his 
hands,  and  he  sent  him  off  at  once,  guarded  by  four 
of  his  own  soldiers,  to  Chateau  de  La  Motte  au  Bois, 
with  others  of  our  gentlemen  who  were  prisoners. 
M.  de  Bauge  would  not  tell  who  he  was ;  and  en- 
dured much  hardship,  living  on  bread  and  water, 
with  a  little  straw  for  his  bed.  When  Hesdin  was 
taken,  M.  de  Vaudeville  sent  the  news  of  it  to  him 
and  to  the  other  prisoners,  and  the  list  of  the  killed, 
and  among  them  M.  de  Martigues  :  and  when  M.  de 
Bauge  heard  with  his  own  ears  his  brother  was  dead, 
he  fell  to  crying,  weeping,  and  lamentation.  His 
guards  asked  him  why  he  was  so  miserable :  he 
told  them,  for  love  of  M.  de  Martigues,  his  brother. 
When  he  heard  this,  the  captain  of  the  castle  sent 
straight  to  tell  M.  de  Vaudeville  he  had  a  good 
prisoner:  who  was  delighted  at  this,  and  sent  me 
next  day  with  four  soldiers,  and  his  own  physi- 
cian,  to  the   castle,   to   say   that    if  M.    de   Baug6 


90  Ambroise  Pare 


would  pay  him  fifteen  thousand  crowns  ransom,  he 
would  send  him  home  free :  and  he  asked  only  the 
security  of  two  Antwerp  merchants  that  he  should 
name.  M.  de  Vaudeville  persuaded  me  I  should 
commend  this  offer  to  his  prisoner :  that  is  why 
he  sent  me  to  the  castle.  He  told  the  captain  to 
treat  him  well  and  put  him  in  a  room  with  hangings, 
and  strengthen  his  guard  :  and  from  that  time  on- 
ward they  made  a  great  deal  of  him,  at  the  expense 
of  M.  de  Vaudeville. 

M.  de  Bauge  answered  that  he  could  not  pay  his 
ransom  himself:  it  depended  on  M.  d'  Estampes  his 
uncle,  and  Mile,  de  Bressure  his  aunt :  he  had  no 
means  to  pay  such  a  ransom.  I  went  back  with  my 
guards,  and  gave  this  answer  to  M.  de  Vaudeville ; 
who  said,  "  Possibly  he  will  not  get  away  so  cheap  "  : 
which  was  true,  forthey  knew  who  he  was.  Then  the 
Queen  of  Hungary  and  M.  le  Due  de  Savoie  sent 
word  to  M.  de  Vaudeville  that  this  mouthful  was 
too  big  for  him,  and  he  must  send  his  prisoner  to 
them  (which  he  did),  and  he  had  other  prisoners 
enough  without  him.  The  ransom  paid  was  forty 
thousand  crowns,  without  other  expenses. 

On  my  way  back  to  M.  de  Vaudeville,  I  passed  by 
Saint  Omer,  where  I  saw  their  great  cannons,  most 
of  which  were  fouled  and  broken.  Also  I  passed  by 
Theroiienne,  where    I  saw  not  one  stone    left    on 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  91 


another,  save  a  vestige  of  the  great  church :  for  the 
Emperor  ordered  the  country  people  for  five  or  six 
leagues  round  to  clear  and  take  away  the  stones  ;  so 
that  now  you  may  drive  a  cart  over  the  town  :  and 
tlie  same  at  Hesdin,  and  no  trace  of  castle  and  fort- 
ress.    Such  is  the  evil  that  wars  bring  with  them. 

To  return  to  my  story  ;  M.  de  Vaudeville  soon  got 
the  better  of  his  ulcer,  and  was  nearly  healed  :  so  he 
let  me  go,  and  sent  me  by  a  trumpet,  with  passport, 
as  far  as  Abbeville.  I  posted  from  here,  and  went  to 
find  my  master.  King  Henry,  at  Aufimon,  who  re- 
ceived me  gladly  and  with  good  favour.  He  sent  MM. 
de  Guise,  the  Constable,  and  d'  Estr^s,  to  hear  from 
me  the  capture  of  Hesdin  ;  and  I  made  them  a  true 
report,  and  assured  them  I  had  seen  the  great  can- 
nons they  had  taken  to  Saint  Omer :  and  the  King 
was  glad,  for  he  had  feared  the  enemy  would  come 
further  into  France.  He  gave  me  two  hundred 
crowns  to  take  me  home  :  and  I  was  thankful  to 
be  free,  out  of  this  great  torment  and  thunder  of 
the  diabolical  artillery,  and  away  from  the  soldiers, 
blasphemers  and  deniers  of  God.  I  must  add  that 
after  Hesdin  was  taken,  the  King  was  told  I  was  not 
killed  but  taken  prisoner.  He  made  M.  Goguier,  his 
chief  physician,  write  to  my  wife  that  I  was  living, 
and  she  was  not  to  be  unhappy,  and  he  would  pay 
my  ransom. 


92  Ambroise  Pare 


Battle  of  Saint  Quentin.    1557. 

After  the  battle  of  Saint  Quentin,  the  King  sent 
me  to  La  Fere  en  Tartenois,  to  M.  le  Mar6chal  de 
Bourdillon,  for  a  passport  to  M.  le  Due  de  Savoie, 
that  I  might  go  and  dress  the  Constable,  who  had 
been  badly  wounded  in  the  back  with  a  pistol-shot, 
whereof  he  was  like  to  die,  and  remained  prisoner 
in  the  enemy's  hands.  But  never  would  M.  le  Due 
de  Savoie  let  me  go  to  him,  saying  he  would  not 
die  for  want  of  a  surgeon  ;  that  he  much  doubted 
I  would  go  there  only  to  dress  him,  and  not  rather 
to  take  some  secret  information  to  him  ;  and  that  he 
knew  I  was  privy  to  other  things  besides  surgery, 
and  remembered  I  had  been  his  prisoner  at  Hesdin. 
M.  le  Mar6chal  told  the  King  of  this  refusal :  who 
wrote  to  M.  le  Mar^chal,  that  if  Mme.  the  Con- 
stable's Lady  would  send  some  quick-witted  man  of 
her  household  I  would  give  him  a  letter,  and  had 
also  something  to  say  to  him  by  M'^ord  of  mouth, 
entrusted  to  me  by  the  King  and  by  M.  le  Cardinal 
de  Lorraine.  Two  days  later  there  came  one  of  the 
Constable's  gentlemen  of  the  bedchamber,  with  his 
shirts  and  other  linen,  to  whom  M.  le  Mar6chal 
gave  a  passport  to  go  to  the  Constable.  I  was 
very  glad,  and  gave  him  my  letter,  and  instructed 
him  what  his  master  must  do  now  he  was  prisoner. 

I  thought,  having  finished  my  mission,  to  return 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  93 


to  the  King ;  but  M.  le  Mar^chal  begged  me  to 
stop  at  La  F^re  with  him,  to  dress  a  very  great 
number  of  wounded  who  had  retreated  there  after 
the  battle,  and  he  would  write  to  the  King  to  ex- 
plain why  I  stopped ;  which  I  did.  Their  wounds 
were  very  putrid,  and  full  of  worms,  with  gangrene, 
and  corruption ;  and  I  had  to  make  free  play  with 
the  knife  to  cut  off  what  was  corrupt,  which  was  not 
done  without  amputation  of  arms  and  legs,  and  also 
sundry  trepannings.  They  found  no  store  of  drugs 
at  La  Fere,  because  the  surgeons  of  the  camp  had 
taken  them  all  away ;  but  I  found  the  waggons  of 
the  artillery  there,  and  these  had  not  been  touched. 
I  asked  M.  le  Mar^chal  to  let  me  have  some  of  the 
drugs  which  were  in  them,  which  he  did  ;  and  I  was 
given  the  half  only  at  one  time,  and  five  or  six  days 
later  I  had  to  take  the  rest ;  and  yet  it  was  not 
half  enough  to  dress  the  great  number  of  V70unded. 
And  to  correct  and  stop  the  corruption,  and  kill  the 
worms  in  their  wounds,  I  washed  them  with  ^gyp- 
tiacum  dissolved  in  wine  and  eau-de-vie,  and  did 
all  I  could  for  them  ;  but  in  spite  of  all  my  care 
many  of  them  died. 

There  were  at  La  F^re  some  gentlemen  charged 
to  find  the  dead  body  of  M.  de  Bois-Dauphin  the 
elder,  who  had  been  killed  in  the  battle ;  they 
asked  me  to  go  with  them  to  the  camp,  to  pick  him 


94  Ambroise  Pare 


out,  if  we  could,  among  the  dead ;  but  it  was  not 
possible  to  recognise  him,  the  bodies  being  all  far 
gone  in  corruption,  and  their  faces  changed.  We 
saw  more  than  half  a  league  round  us  the  earth  all 
covered  with  the  dead  ;  and  hardly  stopped  there, 
because  of  the  stench  of  the  dead  men  and  their 
horses;  and  so  many  blue  and  green  flies  rose  from 
them,  bred  of  the  moisture  of  the  bodies  and  the 
heat  of  the  sun,  that  when  they  were  up  in  the  air 
they  hid  the  sun.  It  was  wonderful  to  hear  them 
buzzing  ;  and  where  they  settled,  there  they  infected 
the  air,  and  brought  the  plague  with  them.  Mon 
petit  maistre,  I  wish  you  had  been  there  with  me, 
to  experience  the  smells,  and  make  report  thereof 
to  them  that  were  not  there. 

I  was  very  weary  of  the  place  ;  I  prayed  M.  le 
Marechal  to  let  me  leave  it,  and  feared  I  should  be 
ill  there ;  for  the  wounded  men  stank  past  all  bear- 
ing, and  they  died  nearly  all,  in  spite  of  everything 
we  did.  He  got  surgeons  to  finish  the  treatment  of 
them,  and  sent  me  away  with  his  good  favour.  He 
wrote  to  the  King  of  the  diligence  I  had  shown 
toward  the  poor  wounded.  Then  I  returned  to 
Paris,  where  I  found  many  more  gentlemen,  who 
had  been  wounded  and  gone  thither  after  the 
battle. 


"Journeys  in   Diverse  Places"  95 


The  Journey  to  the  Camp  at  Amiens.    1558. 

The  King  sent  me  to  Dourlan,  under  conduct  of 
Captain  Gouast ;  with  fifty  men-at-arms,  for  fear  I 
should  be  taken  by  the  enemy  ;  and  seeing  we  were 
always  in  alarms  on  the  way,  I  made  my  man  get 
down,  and  made  him  the  master;  for  I  got  on  his 
horse,  which  carried  my  valise,  and  could  go  well  if 
we  had  to  make  our  escape,  and  I  took  his  cloak 
and  hat  and  gave  him  my  mount,  which  was  a  good 
little  mare ;  he  being  in  front,  you  would  have 
taken  him  for  the  master  and  me  for  the  servant. 
The  garrison  inside  Dourlan,  when  they  saw  us, 
thought  we  were  the  enemy,  and  fired  their  cannon 
at  us.  Captain  Gouast,  my  conductor,  made  signs 
to  them  with  his  hat  that  we  were  not  the  enemy ; 
at  last  they  ceased  firing,  and  we  entered  Dourlan, 
to  our  great  relief. 

Five  or  six  days  before  this,  a  sortie  had  been 
made  from  Dourlan ;  wherein  many  captains  and 
brave  soldiers  had  been  killed  or  wounded :  and 
among  the  wounded  was  Captain  Saint  Aubin,  vail- 
lant  comme  Vespe'e,  a  great  friend  of  M.  de  Guise  :  for 
whose  sake  chiefly  the  King  had  sent  me  there.  Who, 
being  attacked  with  a  quartan  fever,  yet  left  his  bed 
to  command  the  greater  part  of  his  company.  A 
Spaniard,  seeing  him  in  command,  perceived  he  was 
a  captain,  and    shot   him    through    the    neck   with 


96  Ambroise  Pare 


an  arquebus.  Captain  Saint  Aubin  thought  him- 
self killed  :  and  by  this  fright  I  protest  to  God  he 
lost  his  quartan  fever,  and  was  forever  free  of  it. 
I  dressed  him,  with  Antoine  Portail,  surgeon-in- 
ordinary  of  the  King ;  and  many  other  soldiers. 
Some  died,  others  got  off  with  the  loss  of  an  arm 
or  a  leg  or  an  eye,  and  said  they  had  got  off  cheap, 
to  be  alive  at  all.  Then,  the  enemy  having  broken 
up  their  camp,  I  returned  to  Paris. 

I  say  nothing  here  of  mojt  petit  utaistre,  who  was 
more  comfortable  in  his  house  than  I  at  the  wars. 

The    Journey  to    Bourges.    1562. 

The  King  with  his  camp  was  but  a  short  time  at 
Bourges,  till  those  within  the  walls  should  sur- 
render ;  and  they  came  out  with  their  goods  saved. 
I  know  nothing  Avorth  remembering,  but  that  a  boy 
of  the  King's  kitchen,  having  come  near  the  walls  of 
the  town  before  the  agreement  had  been  signed,  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  "  Huguenot,  Huguenot,  shoot 
here,  shoot  here,"  having  his  arm  thrown  up  and  his 
hand  spread  out  ;  a  soldier  shot  his  hand  right 
through  with  a  bullet.  When  he  was  thus  shot,  he 
came  to  find  me  to  dress  him.  And  the  Constable 
seeing  the  boy  in  tears,  with  his  hand  all  bloody, 
asked  who  had  wounded  him  :  then  a  gentleman 
who   had  seen  him  shot  said  it  served  him   right, 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"  97 


because  he  kept  calling  "  Huguenot,  hit  here,  aim 
here."  And  then  the  Constable  said,  this  Huguenot 
was  a  good  shot  and  a  good  fellow,  for  most  likely 
if  he  had  chosen  to  fire  at  the  boy's  head,  he  would 
have  hit  it  even  more  easily  than  his  hand.  I 
dressed  the  kitchen  boy,  who  was  very  ill.  He  re- 
covered, but  with  no  power  in  his  hand  :  and  from 
that  time  his  comrades  called  him  "  Huguenot " : 
he  is  still  living  now. 

The  Journey  To  Rouen.     1562. 

Now,  as  for  the  capture  of  Rouen,  they  killed 
many  of  our  men  both  before  and  at  the  attack: 
and  the  very  next  day  after  we  had  entered  the 
town,  I  trepanned  eight  or  nine  of  our  men,  who  had 
been  wounded  with  stones  as  they  were  on  the 
breach.  The  air  was  so  malignant,  that  many  died, 
even  of  quite  small  wounds,  so  that  some  thought 
the  bullets  had  been  poisoned  :  and  those  within 
the  town  said  the  like  of  us  ;  for  though  they  had 
within  the  town  all  that  was  needful,  yet  all  the 
same  they  died  like  those  outside. 

The  King  of  Navarre  was  wounded,  some  days 
before  the  attack,  with  a  bullet  in  the  shoulder. 
I  visited  him,  and  helped  to  dress  him,  with  one  of 
his  own  surgeons,  Master  Gilbert,  one  of  the  chief 
men  of  Montpellier,  and  others.     They  could    not 


98  Ambroise  Pare 


find  the  bullet.  I  searched  for  it  very  accurately, 
and  found  reason  to  believe  it  had  entered  at  the 
top  of  the  arm,  by  the  head  of  the  bone,  and  had 
passed  into  the  hollow  part  of  the  bone,  which  was 
why  they  could  not  find  it ;  and  most  of  them  said 
it  had  entered  his  body  and  was  lost  in  it.  M.  le 
Prince  de  La  Roche-sur-Yon,  who  dearly  loved  the 
King  of  Navarre,  drew  me  aside  and  asked  if  the 
wound  were  mortal.  I  told  him  yes,  because  all 
wounds  of  great  joints,  and  especially  contused 
wounds,  were  mortal,  according  to  all  those  who 
have  written  about  them.  He  asked  the  others 
what  they  thought  of  it,  and  chiefly  Master  Gilbert, 
who  told  him  he  had  great  hope  his  Lord  the  King 
v/ould  recover;  which  made  the  Prince  very  glad. 
Four  days  later,  the  King,  and  the  Queen-m.other, 
and  M.  le  Cardinal  de  Bourbon,  his  brother,  and 
M.  le  Prince  de  La  Roche-sur-Yon,  and  M.  de  Guise, 
and  other  great  persons,  after  we  had  dressed  the 
King  of  Navarre,  wished  us  to  hold  a  consultation 
in  their  presence,  all  the  physicians  and  surgeons 
together.  Each  of  them,  said  what  he  thought,  and 
there  was  not  one  but  had  good  hope,  they  said, 
that  he  would  recover.  I  persisted  always  in  the 
contrary.  M.  le  Prince,  who  loved  me,  drew  me 
aside,  and  said  I  was  alone  against  the  opinion  of 
all  the  others,  and  prayed  me  not  to  be  obstinate 


"Journeys  in   Diverse  Places"  99 


against  so  many  good  men.  I  answered,  When  I  shall 
see  good  signs  of  recovery,  I  will  change  my  mind. 
Many  consultations  were  held,  and  I  never  changed 
what  I  said,  and  the  prognosis  I  had  made  at  the 
first  dressing,  and  said  always  the  arm  would  fall 
into  a  gangrene :  which  it  did,  for  all  the  care  they 
could  give  to  it ;  and  he  rendered  his  spirit  to  God 
the  eighteenth  day  after  his  wound. 

M.  le  Prince,  having  heard  of  it,  sent  to  me  his 
surgeon,  and  his  physician,  one  Lefevre,  now 
physician-in-ordinary  to  the  King  and  the  Queen- 
mother,  to  say  he  wished  to  have  the  bullet,  and 
we  were  to  look  for  it,  to  see  where  it  was.  Then 
I  was  very  glad,  and  assured  them  I  should  quickly 
find  it ;  which  I  did  in  their  presence,  with  many 
other  gentlemen :  it  was  just  in  the  very  middle  of 
the  bone.  M.  le  Prince  took  and  showed  it  to  the 
King  and  to  the  Queen,  who  all  said  that  my 
prognosis  had  come  true.  The  body  was  laid  to 
rest  at  Chateau  Gaillard  :  and  I  returned  to  Paris, 
where  I  found  many  patients,  who  had  been 
wounded  on  the  breach  at  Rouen,  and  chiefly  Ital- 
ians, who  were  very  eager  I  should  dress  them : 
which  I  did  willingly.  Many  of  them  recovered  : 
the  rest  died.  Mo)i  petit  inaist7'e,  I  think  you  were 
called  to  dress  some,  for  the  great  number  there 
was  of  them. 


loo  Ambroise  Pare 


The  Battle  of  Dreux.     1562. 

The  day  after  the  battle  of  Dreux,  the  King  bade 
me  go  and  dress  M.  le  Comte  d'Eu,  who  had  been 
wounded  in  the  right  thigh,  near  the  hip-Joint,  witli 
a  pistol-shot :  which  had  smashed  and  broken  the 
thigh-bone  into  many  pieces  :  whereon  many  acci- 
dents supervened,  and  at  last  death,  to  my  great 
grief.  The  day  after  I  came,  I  would  go  to  the 
camp  where  the  battle  had  been,  to  see  the  dead 
bodies.  I  saw,  for  a  long  league  round,  the  earth 
all  covered :  they  estimated  it  at  twenty-five  thou- 
sand men  or  more ;  and  it  was  all  done  in  less  than 
two  hours.  I  wish,  mon  petit  maistre,  for  the  love  I 
bear  you,  you  had  been  there,  to  tell  it  to  your 
scholars  and  your  children. 

Now  while  I  was  at  Dreux,  I  visited  and  dressed 
a  great  number  of  gentlemen,  and  poor  soldiers,  and 
among  the  rest  many  of  the  Swiss  captains.  I 
dressed  fourteen  all  in  one  room,  all  wounded  with 
pistol-shots  and  other  diabolical  firearms,  and  not 
one  of  the  fourteen  died.  M.  le  Comte  d'Eu  being 
dead,  I  made  no  long  stay  at  Dreux.  Surgeons 
came  from  Paris,  who  fulfilled  their  duty  to  the 
wounded,  as  Pigray,  Cointeret,  Hubert,  and  others ; 
and  I  returned  to  Paris,  where  I  found  many 
wounded  gentlemen  who  had  retreated  thither  after 
the  battle,  to  have  their  wounds  dressed  ;  and  I  was 
not  there  without  seeing  many  of  them. 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"         loi 


The  Journey  to  Havre  de  Grace.    1563. 

And  I  will  not  omit  to  tell  of  the  camp  at  Havre 
de  Grace.  When  our  artillery  came  before  the  walls 
of  the  town,  the  English  within  the  walls  killed  some 
of  our  men,  and  several  pioneers  who  were  making 
gabions.  And  seeing  they  were  so  wounded  that 
there  was  no  hope  of  curing  them,  their  comrades 
stripped  them,  and  put  them  still  living  inside  the 
gabions,  which  served  to  fill  them  up.  When  the 
English  saw  that  they  could  not  withstand  our  at- 
tack, because  they  were  hard  hit  by  sickness,  and 
especially  by  the  plague,  they  surrendered.  The 
King  gave  them  ships  to  return  to  England,  very 
glad  to  be  out  of  this  plague-stricken  place.  The 
greater  part  of  them  died,  and  they  took  the  plague 
to  England,  and  they  have  not  got  rid  of  it  since. 
Captain  Sarlabous,  master  of  the  camp,  was  left  in 
garrison,  with  six  ensigns  of  infantry,  who  had  no 
fear  of  the  plague ;  and  they  were  very  glad  to  get 
into  the  town,  hoping  to  enjoy  themselves  there. 
Mon  petit  maistre,  if  you  had  been  there,  you  would 
have  done  as  they  did. 

The  Journey  to  Bayonne.  1564. 
I  went  with  the  King  on  that  journey  to   Bay- 
onne, when  we  were  two  years  and  more  making 
the  tour  of  well-nigh  all  this  kingdom.     And  in  many 
towns  and  villages  I  was  called  in  consultation  over 


I02  Ambrolse  Pare 


sundry  diseases,  with  the  late  M.  Chapelain,  chief 
physician  to  the  King,  and  M.  Castellan,  chief  physi- 
cian to  the  Queen-mother ;  honourable  men  and 
very  learned  in  medicine  and  surgery.  During  this 
journey,  I  always  inquired  of  the  surgeons  if  they 
had  noted  anything  rare  in  their  practices,  so  that  I 
might  learn  something  new.  While  I  was  at  Bay- 
onne,  two  things  happened  worthy  of  remark  by 
young  surgeons.  The  first  is,  I  dressed  a  Spanish 
gentleman,  who  had  a  great  and  enormous  swelling 
of  the  throat.  He  had  lately  been  touched  by  the 
deceased  King  Charles  for  the  king's  evil.  I  opened 
his  swelling.  ...  I  left  him  in  the  hands  of  a 
surgeon  of  the  town,  to  finish  his  cure.  M.  de  Fon- 
taine, Knight  of  the  Order  of  the  King,  had  a  severe 
continued  pestilent  fever,  accompanied  with  many 
inflammatory  swellings  in  sundry  parts  of  the  body. 
He  had  bleeding  at  the  nose  for  two  days,  without 
ceasing,  nor  could  we  staunch  it  :  and  after  this 
haemorrhage  the  fever  ceased,  with  much  sweating, 
and  by  and  bye  the  swellings  suppurated,  and  he 
was  dressed  by  me,  and  healed  by  the  grace  of  God. 

Battle  of  Saint  Denis.  1567. 

As  for  the  battle  of  Saint  Denis,  there  were  many 
killed  on  both  sides.  Our  wounded  withdrew  to 
Paris   to  be   dressed,  with   the  prisoners  they  had 


Ofiii  Yiittcr  qziiijkt.  riidtoiilhv  qcwimdt 
Da  voncrailorbcn  nncuifcmiqf'jnindc 


lar     M.    D.    LXVII. 


BATTLE  OP  SAINT  DENIS,  1567. 


"Journeys  in   Diverse  Places"        103 


taken,  and  I  dressed  many  of  them.  The  King 
ordered  me,  at  the  request  of  Mme.  the  Constable's 
Lady,  to  go  to  her  house  to  dress  the  Constable ; 
who  had  a  pistol-shot  in  the  middle  of  the  spine  of 
his  back,  whereby  at  once  he  lost  all  feeling  and 
movement  in  his  thighs  and  legs  .  .  .  because 
the  spinal  cord,  whence  arise  the  nerves  to  give  feel- 
ing and  movement  to  the  parts  below,  was  crushed, 
broken,  and  torn  by  the  force  of  the  bullet.  Also 
he  lost  understanding  and  reason,  and  in  a  few  days 
he  died.  The  surgeons  of  Paris  were  hard  put  to 
it  for  many  days  to  treat  all  the  wounded.  I  think, 
mon  petit  maistre,  you  saw  some  of  them.  I  beseech 
the  great  God  of  victories,  that  we  be  never  more 
employed  in  such  misfortune  and  disaster. 

Voyage  of  the  Battle  of  Moncontour.  1569. 

During  the  battle  of  Moncontour,  King  Charles 
v/as  at  Piessis-les-Tours,  where  he  heard  the  news  of 
the  victory.  A  great  number  of  gentlemen  and 
soldiers  retreated  into  the  town  and  suburbs  of 
Tours,  wounded,  to  be  dressed  and  treated  ;  and  the 
King  and  the  Queen-mother  bade  me  do  my  duty 
by  them,  with  other  surgeons  who  were  then  on  duty, 
as  Pigray,  du  Bois,  Portail,  and  one  Siret,  a  surgeon 
of  Tours,  a  man  well  versed  in  surgery,  who  was  at 
this  time  surgeon  to  the  King's  brother.     And   for 


I04  Ambroise  Pard 


the  multitude  of  bad  cases  we  had  scarce  any  rest, 
nor  the  physicians  either. 

M.  le  Comte  de  Mansfeld,  Governor  of  the  Duchy 
of  Luxembourg,  Knight  of  the  Order  of  the  King, 
was  severely  wounded  in  the  battle,  in  the  left  arm, 
with  a  pistol-shot  which  broke  a  great  part  of  his 
elbow  ;  and  he  withdrew  to  Borgueil  near  Tours. 
Then  he  sent  a  gentleman  to  the  King,  to  beg  him 
to  send  one  of  his  surgeons,  to  help  him  of  his  wound. 
So  they  debated  which  surgeon  they  should  send. 
M.  le  Mar^chal  de  Montmorency  told  the  King  and 
the  Queen  that  they  ought  to  send  him  their  chief 
surgeon ;  and  urged  that  M.  de  Mansfeld  had  done 
much  toward  the  victory. 

The  King  said  flat,  he  would  not  have  me  go,  and 
wished  me  to  stop  with  himself.  Then  the  Queen- 
mother  told  him  I  would  but  go  and  come  back, 
and  he  must  remember  it  was  a  foreign  lord,  who 
had  come,  at  the  command  of  the  King  of  Spain, 
to  help  him.  Then  he  let  me  go,  provided  I  came 
back  very  soon.  So  he  sent  for  me,  and  the  Queen- 
mother  with  him,  and  bade  me  go  and  find  the 
Lord  de  Mansfeld,  wherever  he  should  be,  to  do  all 
I  could  for  him  to  heal  his  wound.  I  went  to  him, 
with  a  letter  from  Their  Majesties.  When  he  saw 
it,  he  received  me  with  good-will,  and  forthwith 
dismissed  three  or  four  surgeons  who  were  dressing 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"        105 


him  ;  which  was  to  my  very  great  regret,  because 
his  wound  seemed  to  me  incurable. 

Now  many  gentlemen  had  retreated  to  Borgueil, 
having  been  wounded  :  for  they  knew  that  M.  de 
Guise  was  there,  who  also  had  been  badly  wounded 
with  a  pistol-shot  through  the  leg,  and  they  were 
sure  that  he  would  have  good  surgeons  to  dress 
him,  and  would  help  them,  as  he  is  kindly  and 
very  generous,  and  would  relieve  their  wants.  This 
he  did  with  a  will,  both  for  their  eating  and  drink- 
ing, and  for  what  else  they  needed :  and  for  my 
part,  they  had  the  comfort  and  help  of  my  art : 
some  died,  others  recovered,  according  to  their 
wounds.  M.  le  Comte  Ringrave  died,  who  was 
shot  in  the  shoulder,  like  the  King  of  Navarre  be- 
fore Rouen.  M.  de  Bassompierre,  colonel  of  twelve 
hundred  horse,  was  wounded  by  a  similar  shot,  in 
the  same  place,  as  M.  de  Mansfeld  :  whom  I 
dressed,  and  God  healed.  God  blessed  my  work  so 
well,  that  in  three  weeks  I  sent  them  back  to  Paris : 
where  I  had  still  to  make  incisions  in  M.  de  Mans- 
feld's  arm,  to  remove  some  pieces  of  the  bones, 
which  were  badly  splintered,  broken,  and  carious. 
He  was  healed  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  made  me 
^  handsome  present,  so  I  was  well  content  with 
him,  and  he  with  me  ;  as  he  has  shown  me  since. 
He  wrote  a  letter  to  M.  le  Due  d'  Ascot,  how  he  was 


io6  Ambroise  Pare 


healed  of  his  wound,  and  also  M,  de  Bassompierre  of 
his,  and  many  others  whom  I  had  dressed  after  the 
battle  of  Moncontour;  and  advised  him  to  ask  the 
King  of  France  to  let  me  visit  M.  le  Marquis  d'Auret, 
his  brother:  which  he  did. 

The  Journey  to  Flanders.    1569. 

M.  le  Due  d'  Ascot  did  not  fail  to  send  a  gentle- 
man to  the  King,  with  a  letter  humbly  asking  he 
would  do  him  so  much  kindness  and  honour  as  to 
permit  and  command  his  chief  surgeon  to  visit  M.  le 
Marquis  d'  Auret,  his  brother,  who  had  received  a 
gunshot  wound  near  the  knee,  with  fracture  of  the 
bone,  about  seven  months  ago,  and  the  physicians 
and  surgeons  all  this  time  had  not  been  able  to  heal 
him.  The  King  sent  for  me  and  bade  me  go  and 
see  M.  d'  Auret,  and  give  him  all  the  help  I  could, 
to  heal  him  of  his  wound.  I  told  him  I  would 
employ  all  the  little  knowledge  it  had  pleased  God 
to  give  me. 

I  went  off,  escorted  by  two  gentlemen,  to  the 
Chateau  d'  Auret,  which  is  a  league  and  a  half  from 
Mons  in  Hainault,  where  M.  le  Marquis  was  lying. 
So  soon  as  I  had  come,  I  visited  him,  and  told  him 
the  King  had  commanded  me  to  come  and  see  him 
and  dress  his  wound.  He  said  he  was  very  glad  I 
had  come,  and  was  much  beholden  to  the   King, 


DrtitaiifnaTevtJefi(mti^tef)t  zmSrar^t 


Am   in.  0^o[r.  im  i,ir    M.    n. 


^J 


BATTLE  OF  MONCONTOUR,  October  3,  isSq. 


"Journeys  in   Diverse  Places"        107 


who  had  done  him  so  much  honour  as  to  send  me 
to  him. 

I  found  him  in  a  high  fever,  his  eyes  deep  sunken, 
with  a  moribund  and  yellowish  face,  his  tongue  dry 
and  parched,  and  the  whole  body  much  wasted  and 
lean,  the  voice  low  as  of  a  man  very  near  death :  and 
I  found  his  thigh  much  inflamed,  suppurating,  and 
ulcerated,  discharging  a  greenish  and  very  offensive 
sanies.  I  probed  it  with  a  silver  probe,  wherewith  I 
found  a  large  cavity  in  the  middle  of  the  thigh,  and 
others  round  the  knee,  sanious  and  cuniculate :  also 
several  scales  of  bone,  some  loose,  others  not.  The 
leg  was  greatly  swelled,  and  imbued  with  a  pituitous 
humor  .  .  .  and  bent  and  drawn  back.  There  was 
a  large  bedsore  ;  he  could  rest  neither  day  nor  night ; 
and  had  no  appetite  to  eat,  but  very  thirsty.  I  was 
told  he  often  fell  into  a  faintness  of  the  heart,  and 
sometimes  as  in  epilepsy  :  and  often  he  felt  sick,  with 
such  trembling  he  could  not  carry  his  hands  to  his 
mouth.  Seeing  and  considering  all  these  great  com- 
plications, and  the  vital  powers  thus  broken  down, 
truly  I  was  very  sorry  I  had  come  to  him,  because  it 
seemed  to  me  there  was  little  hope  he  would  escape 
death.  All  the  same,  to  give  him  courage  and  good 
hope,  I  told  him  I  would  soon  set  him  on  his  legs, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  and  the  help  of  his  physicians 
and  surgeons. 


io8  Ambroise  Pare 


Having  seen  him,  I  went  a  walk  in  a  garden,  and 
prayed  God  He  would  show  me  this  grace,  that  he 
should  recover ;  and  that  He  would  bless  our  hands 

and  our  medicaments,  to  fight  such  a  complication  of 
diseases.  I  discussed  in  my  mind  the  means  I  must 
take  to  do  this.  They  called  me  to  dinner.  I  came 
into  the  kitchen,  and  there  I  saw,  taken  out  of  a 
great  pot,  half  a  sheep,  a  quarter  of  veal,  three  great 
pieces  of  beef,  two  fowls,  and  a  very  big  piece  of 
bacon,  with  abundance  of  good  herbs  :  then  I  said 
to  myself  that  the  broth  of  the  pot  would  be  full 
of  juices,  and  very  nourishing. 

After  dinner,  we  began  our  consultation,  all  the 
physicians  and  surgeons  together,  in  the  presence 
of  M,  le  Due  d  Ascot  and  some  gentlemen  who  were 
with  him.  I  began  to  say  to  the  surgeons  that  I 
was  astonished  they  had  not  made  incisions  in 
M.  le  Marquis'  thigh,  seeing  that  it  was  all  sup- 
purating, and  the  thick  matter  in  it  very  foetid  and 
offensive,  showing  it  had  long  been  pent  up  there; 
and  that  I  had  found  with  the  probe  caries  of  the 
bone,  and  scales  of  bone,  which  were  already  loose. 
They  answered  me :  "  Never  would  he  consent  to 
it " ;  indeed,  it  was  near  two  months  since  they 
had  been  able  to  get  leave  to  put  clean  sheets  on 
his  bed  ;  and  one  scarce  dared  touch  the  coverlet,  so 
great  was  his  pain.     Then  I  said,  "  To  heal  him,  we 


"Journeys  in  Diverse  Places"        109 


must  touch  something  else  than  the  coverlet  of  his 
bed."  Each  said  what  he  thought  of  the  malady  of 
the  patient,  and  in  conclusion  they  all  held  it  hope- 
less. I  told  them  there  was  still  some  hope,  because 
he  was  young,  and  God  and  Nature  sometimes  do 
things  which  seem  to  physicians  and  surgeons  im- 
possible.*    .     .     . 

To  restore  the  warmth  and  nourishment  of  the 
body,  general  frictions  must  be  made  with  hot  cloths, 
above,  below,  to  right,  to  left,  and  around,  to  draw 
the  blood  and  the  vital  spirits  from  within  outward. 
.  .  .  For  the  bedsore,  he  must  be  put  in  a  fresh, 
soft  bed,  with  clean  shirt  and  sheets.  .  .  .  Hav- 
ing discoursed  of  the  causes  and  complications  of 
his  malady,  I  said  we  must  cure  them  by  their  con- 
traries ;  and  must  first  ease  the  pain,  making  open- 
ings in  the  thigh  to  let  out  the  matter.  .  ,  . 
Secondly,  having  regard  to  the  great  swelling  and 
coldness  of  the  limb,  we  must  apply  hot  bricks  round 
it,  and  sprinkle  them  with  a  decoction  of  nerval  herbs 
in  wine  and  vinegar,  and  wrap  them  in  napkins  ;  and 
to  his  feet,  an  earthenware  bottle  filled  with  the  decoc- 
tion, corked,  and  wrapped  in  cloths.  Then  the  thigh, 
and  the  whole  of  the  leg,  must  be  fomented  with  a 
decoction  made  of  sage,  rosemary,  thyme,  lavender, 
flowers  of  chamomile  and  melilot,  red  roses  boiled  in 
*  A  long  discourse  on  the  case  is  here  omitted. 


no  Ambroise  Pare 


white  wine,  with  a  drying  powder  made  of  oak-ashes 
and  a  little  vinegar  and  half  a  handful  of  salt.  .  .  . 
Thirdly,  we  must  apply  to  the  bedsore  a  large  plas- 
ter made  of  the  desiccative  red  ointment  and  of 
Unguentum  Comitissce,  equal  parts,  mixed  together, 
to  ease  his  pain  and  dry  the  ulcer;  and  he  must  have 
a  little  pillow  of  down,  to  keep  all  pressure  ofT  it. 
.  .  .  And  for  the  strengthening  of  his  heart,  we 
must  apply  over  it  a  refrigerant  of  oil  of  water- 
lilies,  ointment  of  roses,  and  a  little  saffron,  dis- 
solved in  rose-vinegar  and  treacle,  spread  on  a  piece 
of  red  cloth.  For  the  syncope,  from  exhaustion  of 
the  natural  forces,  troubling  the  brain,  he  must  have 
good  nourishment  full  of  juices,  as  raw  eggs,  plums 
stewed  in  wine  and  sugar,  broth  of  the  meat  of  the 
great  pot,  whereof  I  have  already  spoken  ;  the  white 
meat  of  fowls,  partridges'  wings  minced  small,  and 
other  roast  meats  easy  to  digest,  as  veal,  kid,  pi- 
geons, partridges,  thrushes,  and  the  like,  with  sauce 
of  orange,  verjuice,  sorrel,  sharp  pomegranates  ;  or 
he  may  have  them  boiled  with  good  herbs,  as  let- 
tuce, purslain,  chicory,  bugloss,  marigold,  and  the 
like.  At  night  he  can  take  barley-water,  with  juice 
of  sorrel  and  of  water-lilies,  of  each  two  ounces,  with 
four  or  five  grains  *  of  opium,  and  the  four  cold 
seeds  crushed,  of  each  half  an  ounce ;  which  is  a  good 

*  See  page  211. 


"Journeys  in   Diverse   Places"        iii 


nourishing  remedy  and  will  make  him  sleep.  His 
bread  to  be  farm-house  bread,  neither  too  stale  nor 
too  fresh.  For  the  great  pain  in  his  head,  his  hair 
must  be  cut,  and  his  head  rubbed  with  rose-vinegar 
just  Avarm,  and  a  double  cloth  steeped  in  it  and  put 
there  ;  also  a  forehead-cloth,  of  oil  of  roses  and 
water-lilies  and  poppies,  and  a  little  opium  and  rose- 
vinegar,  with  a  little  camphor,  and  changed  from 
time  to  time.  Moreover,  we  must  allow  him  to  smell 
flowers  of  henbane  and  water-lilies,  bruised  with 
vinegar  and  rose-water,  \\'ith  a  little  camphor,  all 
wrapped  in  a  handkerchief,  to  be  held  some  time  to 
his  nose.  .  .  .  And  we  must  make  artificial 
rain,  pouring  Avater  from  some  high  place  into  a 
cauldron,  that  he  may  hear  the  sound  of  it ;  by 
which  means  sleep  shall  be  provoked  on  him.  As 
for  the  contraction  of  his  leg,  there  is  hope  of 
righting  it  when  we  have  let  out  the  pus  and  other 
humors  pent  up  in  the  thigh,  and  have  rubbed  the 
whole  knee  with  ointm.ent  of  mallows,  and  oil  of 
lilies,  and  a  little  eaii-de-vie,  and  wrapped  it  in  black 
wool  with  the  grease  left  in  it ;  and  if  we  put  under 
the  knee  a  feather  pillow  doubled,  little  by  little  we 
shall  straighten  the  leg. 

This  my  discourse  was  well  approved  by  the  phy- 
sicians and  surgeons. 

The   consultation   ended,  we   went  back  to   the 


112  Ambroise  Pare 


patient,  and  I  made  three  openings  in  his  thigh.  .  .  . 
Two  or  three  hours  later,  I  got  a  bed  made  near  his 
old  one,  with  fair  white  sheets  on  it  ;  then  a  strong 
man  put  him  in  it,  and  he  was  thankful  to  be  taken 
out  of  his  foul  stinking  bed.  Soon  after,  he  asked  to 
sleep  ;  which  he  did  for  near  four  hours :  and  every- 
body in  the  house  began  to  feel  happy,  and  espec- 
ially M.  le  Due  d'  Ascot,  his  brother. 

The  following  days,  I  made  injections,  into  the 
depth  and  cavities  of  the  ulcers,  of  .^gyptiacum  dis- 
solved sometimes  in  eau-de-vie,  other  times  in  wine. 
I  applied  compresses  to  the  bottom  of  the  sinuous 
tracks,  to  cleanse  and  dry  the  soft  spongy  flesh,  and 
hollow  leaden  tents,  that  the  sanies  might  always 
have  a  way  out ;  and  above  them  a  large  plaster  of 
Diacalcitheos  dissolved  in  wine.  And  I  bandaged 
him  so  skilfully  that  he  had  no  pain  ;  and  when 
the  pain  was  gone,  the  fever  began  at  once  to  abate. 
Then  I  gave  him  wine  to  drink  moderately  tempered 
with  water,  knowing  it  would  restore  and  quicken 
the  vital  forces.  And  all  that  we  agreed  in  consul- 
tation was  done  in  due  time  and  order  ;  and  so  soon 
as  his  pains  and  fever  ceased,  he  began  steadily  to 
amend.  He  dismissed  two  of  his  surgeons,  and  one 
of  his  physicians,  so  that  we  were  but  three  with 
him. 

Now  I  stopped  there  about  two  months,  not  with- 


"Journeys  in   Diverse   Places"        113 


out  seeing  many  patients,  both  rich  and  poor,  who 
came  to  me  from  three  or  four  leagues  round.  He 
gave  food  and  drink  to  the  needy,  and  commended 
them  all  to  me,  asking  me  to  help  them  for  his 
sake.  I  protest  I  refused  not  one,  and  did  for  them 
all  I  could,  to  his  great  pleasure.  Then,  when  I  saw 
him  beginning  to  be  well,  I  told  him  he  must  have 
viols  and  violins,  and  a  buffoon  to  make  him  laugh  : 
which  he  did.  In  one  month,  we  got  him  into  a 
chair,  and  he  had  himself  carried  about  in  his  garden 
and  at  the  door  of  his  chateau,  to  see  everybody 
passing  by. 

The  villagers  of  two  or  three  leagues  round,  now 
they  could  have  sight  of  him,  came  on  holidays  to 
sing  and  dance,  men  and  women,  pell-mell  for  a 
frolic,  rejoiced  at  his  good  convalescence,  all  glad  to 
see  him,  not  without  plenty  of  laughter  and  plenty 
to  drink.  He  always  gave  them  a  hogshead  of  beer ; 
and  they  all  drank  merrily  to  his  health.  And  the 
citizens  of  Mons  in  Hainault,  and  other  gentlemen, 
his  neighbours,  came  to  see  him  for  the  wonder  of 
it,  as  a  man  come  out  of  the  grave ;  and  from  the 
time  he  was  well,  he  was  never  without  company. 
When  one  went  out,  another  came  in  to  visit  him; 
his  table  was  always  well  covered.  He  was  dearly 
loved  both  by  the  nobility  and  by  the  common 
people  ;  as  for  his  generosity,  so  for  his  handsome 


114  Ambrolse  Pare 


face  and  his  courtesy :  with  a  kind  look  and  a  gracious 
word  for  everybody,  so  that  all  who  saw  him  had 
perforce  to  love  him. 

The  chief  citizens  of  Mons  came  one  Saturday,  to 
beg  him  let  me  go  to  Mons,  where  they  wished 
to  entertain  me  with  a  banquet,  for  their  love 
of  him.  He  told  them  he  would  urge  me  to  go, 
which  he  did  ;  but  I  said  such  great  honour  was  not 
forme,  moreover  they  could  not  feast  me  better  than 
he  did.  Again  he  urged  me,  with  much  affection, 
to  go  there,  to  please  him  :  and  I  agreed.  The  next 
day,  they  came  to  fetch  me  with  two  carriages:  and 
when  we  got  to  Mons,  we  found  the  dinner  ready, 
and  the  chief  men  of  the  town,  with  their  ladies, 
who  attended  me  with  great  devotion.  We  sat 
down  to  dinner,  and  they  put  me  at  the  top  of  the 
table,  and  all  drank  to  me,  and  to  the  health  of  M. 
le  Marquis  d'Auret:  saying  he  was  happy,  and  they 
with  him,  to  have  had  me  to  put  him  on  his  legs 
again ;  and  truly  the  whole  company  were  full  of 
honour  and  love  for  him.  After  dinner,  they 
brought  me  back  to  the  Chateau  d'Auret,  where 
M.  le  Marquis  was  awaiting  me ;  who  affectionately 
welcomed  me,  and  would  hear  what  we  had  done  at 
our  banquet ;  and  I  told  him  all  the  company  had 
drunk  many  times  to  his  health. 

In  six  weeks  he  began  to  stand  a  little  on  crutches, 


"Journeys  in   Diverse   Places"        115 


and  to  put  on  fat  and  get  a  good  natural  colour. 
He  would  go  to  Beaumont,  his  brother's  place  ;  and 
was  taken  there  in  a  carrying-chair,  by  eight  men  at 
a  time.  And  the  peasants  in  the  villages  through 
which  we  passed,  knowing  it  was  M.  le  Marquis, 
fought  who  should  carry  him,  and  would  have  us 
drink  with  them;  but  it  was  only  beer.  Yet  I  be- 
lieve if  they  had  possessed  wine,  even  hippocras,  they 
would  have  given  it  to  us  with  a  will.  And  all  were 
right  glad  to  see  him,  and  all  prayed  God  for  him. 

When  we  came  to  Beaumont,  everybody  came 
out  to  meet  us  and  pay  their  respects  to  him,  and 
prayed  God  bless  him  and  keep  him  in  good  health. 
We  came  to  the  chateau,  and  found  there  more  than 
fifty  gentlemen  whom  M.  le  Due  d'Ascot  had  invited 
to  come  and  be  happy  with  his  brother ;  and  he 
kept  open  house  three  whole  days.  After  dinner, 
the  gentlemen  used  to  tilt  at  the  ring  and  play  with 
the  foils,  and  were  full  of  joy  at  the  sight  of  M. 
d'Auret,  for  they  had  heard  he  would  never  leave 
his  bed  or  be  healed  of  his  wound,  I  was  always 
at  the  upper  end  of  the  table,  and  everybody  drank 
to  him  and  to  me,  thinking  to  make  me  drunk, 
which  they  could  not  ;  for  I  drank  only  as  I 
always  do. 

A  few  days  later,  we  went  back ;  and  I  took  my  leave 
of  Mdme.  la  Duchesse  d'Ascot,  who  drew  a  diamond 


1 1 6  Ambroise  Pare 


from  her  finger,  and  gave  it  me  in  gratitude  for  my 
good  care  of  her  brother :  and  the  diamond  was 
worth  more  than  fifty  crowns.  M.*d'  Auret  was  ever 
getting  better,  and  was  walking  all  alone  on  crutches 
round  his  garden.  Many  times  I  asked  him  to  let 
me  go  back  to  Paris,  telling  him  his  physician  and 
his  surgeon  could  do  all  that  was  now  wanted  for 
his  wound  :  and  to  make  a  beginning  to  get  away 
from  him,  I  asked  him  to  let  me  go  and  see  the  town 
of  Antwerp.  To  this  he  agreed  at  once,  and  told  his 
steward  to  escort  me  there,  with  two  pages.  We 
passed  through  Malines  and  Brussels,  where  the 
chief  citizens  of  the  town  begged  us  to  let  them 
know  of  it  when  we  returned  ;  for  they  too  wished, 
like  those  of  Mons,  to  have  a  festival  for  me.  I  gave 
them  very  humble  thanks,  saying  I  did  not  deserve 
such  honour.  I  was  two  days  and  a  half  seeing  the 
town  of  Antwerp,  where  certain  merchants,  know- 
ing the  steward,  prayed  he  would  let  them  have  the 
honour  of  giving  us  a  dinner  or  a  supper:  it  was 
who  should  have  us,  and  they  were  all  truly  glad  to 
hear  how  well  M.  d'  Auret  was  doing,  and  made 
more  of  me  then  I  asked. 

On  my  return,  I  found  M.  le  Marquis  enjoying 
himself :  and  five  or  six  days  later  I  asked  his  leave 
to  go,  which  he  gave,  said  he,  with  great  regret. 
And   he   made    me   a   handsome  present   of  great 


"  Journeys  in  Diverse  Places  "        117 


value,  and  sent  me  back,  with  the  steward,  and  two 
pages,  to  my  house  in  Paris. 

I  forgot  to  say  that  the  Spaniards  have  since  ruined 
and  demolished  his  Chateau  d'  Auret,  sacked,  pil- 
laged, and  burned  all  the  houses  and  villages  belong- 
ing to  him  :  because  he  would  not  be  of  their  wicked 
party  in  their  assassinations  and  ruin  of  the  Nether- 
lands. 

I  have  published  this  Apologia,  that  all  men  may 
know  on  what  footing  I  have  always  gone  :  and  sure 
there  is  no  man  so  touchy  not  to  take  in  good  part 
what  I  have  said.  For  I  have  but  told  the  truth  ; 
and  the  purport  of  my  discourse  is  plain  for  all  men 
to  see,  and  the  facts  themselves  are  my  guarantee 
against  all  calumnies. 


III. 


NOTES  TO  THE  "JOURNEYS  IN  DIVERSE 
PLACES." 


( The  historical  part  of  these  notes  is  taken  from  Michelet,  Guizot, 
Duruy,  Malgaigne,  and  L'Estoile  :  the  notes  on  the  names  mentioned 
by  Pare  are  mostly  taken  from  Le  Paulmierand  L'Estoile.) 

I.    The  Journey  to  Turin.     1537. 

THE  peace  of  Cambrai,  signed  in  1529,  lasted  till 
1536.  During  these  years,  Francois  I.  strength- 
ened his  army,  allied  himself  with  England,  and 
sought  to  regain  hold  on  Italy  by  the  betrothal  of 
the  Dauphin,  afterward  Henri  II.,  with  Catherine  de 
Medici,  niece  of  Pope  Clement  VII.  In  1535, 
the  Emperor,  Charles  V.,  being  now  free  from  war 
with  France,  and  seeing  his  power  in  Europe  threat- 
.ened  by  the  Turks,  sent  a  fleet  of  500  ships  and 
30,000  men  against  the  Turkish  pirates  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, captured  Tunis,  and  set  at  liberty  20,000 
Christian  slaves.  The  King  of  France  had  already, 
in  1534,  made  alliance  with  the  Sultan,  Suleiman  II., 

118 


Notes  to  Journeys  119 


against  the  Emperor ;  saying  that  when  the  wolves 
were  worrying  his  sheep,  he  had  a  right  to  set  the 
dogs  on  them.  In  1536,  one  of  the  King's  secret 
agents  at  MiJan  was  put  to  death,  at  the  instance  of 
the  Emperor,  by  Francois  Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan. 
Soon  afterward,  Sforza  died  ;  and  the  King,  hoping 
to  recover  his  lost  possessions  in  Italy,  advanced 
against  Piedmont  and  Savoy. 

War  being  declared,  the  Emperor  sent  against 
Marseilles  the  fleet  which  had  returned  from  Tunis, 
and  entered  Provence  in  July,  1536,  with  an  army  of 
50,000  men.  The  French  army  laid  waste  their  own 
country,  that  he  might  find  no  foothold  in  it.  The 
troops  were  ordered  to  demolish  the  villas  and  mills, 
burn  the  grain  and  fodder,  stave  in  the  wine-casks, 
and  pollute  the  wells.  Marseilles  and  Aries  were  to 
be  held  ;  the  rest  of  the  towns  were  to  be  left,  with 
their  fortifications  broken  down,  abandoned  to  the 
enemy.  In  two  months'  time,  the  Emperor  was 
forced  to  retreat  from  a  country  so  desolate  that  his 
men  were  dying  of  hunger  and  dysentery.  "  From 
Aix  to  Frejus,  the  roads  along  which  he  retreated 
were  blocked  with  dying  and  dead  soldiers,  with 
harness,  lances,  pikes,  arquebuses,  and  other  equip- 
ment of  men  and  horses,  piled  in  heaps." 

The  expedition  to  Turin  was  made  next  year,  1537, 
and  not,  as  Pare  says,  in  1536.     The  fighting  at  the 


I20  Ambrolse  Pare 


Pass  of  Suze,  close  to  Mont  Cenis,  was  in  October, 
1537  ;  this  same  pass  had  been  crossed  by  the  French 
army,  without  opposition,  in  March  1536. 

The  Mont  Cenis  pass  was  the  highroad  from  Paris 
to  Venice  and  to  the  East.  There  is  in  the  British 
Museum  a  little  hand-book,  1480,  for  pilgrims  from 
Paris  to  Jerusalem  ;  "  Le  Voyage  de  la  Saincte  Cit6 
de  Hierusalem  Avec  la  description  des  lieux  ports 
villes  cites  et  autres  passaiges.  Faict  I'an  mille 
quatre  cents  quatre  vingtz.  On  les  vend  a  Paris,  en 
la  rue  neufve  nostre  Dame  a  I'enseigne  sainct  Nicolas 
par  Pierre  Sergent."     It  says  of  Mont  Cenis : 

"  Cy  apres  s'ensuyt  le  commecement  de  la  montaigne 
du  mont  Senis  qui  dure  a  monter  une  lieue,  et  deux 
lieues  de  Icing  :  qui  souvent  est  enclose  et  couverte  de 
moult  grat  habondance  de  neiges  qui  par  temps  venteux 
cheent  et  descendet  impetueusemet  sur  les  chemins,  et 
apres  que  les  neiges  sent  cosommes  par  pluye  ou  chaleur 
on  trouve  les  mors  et  les  portes-on  en  la  logete  qon  apelle 
la  chappelle  des  trassis  du  mont  Senys,  Et  la  Descend 
jusques  a  Suze  bonne  Ville  cinq  lieues.  Suze  est  le 
commencement  de  pimont  la  ot.  on  commence  a  comp- 
ter les  chemins  par  milles.  Aussi  les  Orloges  commen- 
cent  a  sonner  autremet  que  en  france,  car  ils  sonnent 
pour  midy  xxiiii  heures  :  et  aussi,  le  diet  lieu  passe,  les 
femmes  ne  portent  pas  de  chaperons,  mais  seulement 
coiffes  et  couvrechefz." 

It  was  at  Turin  that  Par6  first  practised  amputa- 
tion at  the    elbow-joint ;  it  was  here  also,   always 


Notes  to  Journeys  121 


ready  to  note  small  things,  that  he  observed  an  old 
woman's  treatment  of  burns  by  application  of  raw 
onions. 

M.  the  Constable :  Anne  de  Montmorency,  born 
1492,  died  at  the  battle  of  Saint  Denis,  1567.  After 
twenty  years  in  the  King's  service,  he  fell  into  dis- 
grace at  Court,  in  1541,  through  the  hostility  of  the 
King's  mistress,  M.  la  Duchesse  d'Etampes,  but 
was  recalled  by  Henri  II.  He  was  the  uncle  of 
Coligny.  He  received  the  ofifice  of  High  Constable 
in   1538. 

M.  de  Montejan  :  R6ne  de  Montejan,  Seigneur  de 
Montejan  en  Anjou,  de  Sille,  et  de  Beaupreau.  He 
was  taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Brignoles  in  1536. 
He  was  made  Governor  of  Piedmont  in  1537,  and  a 
Marshal  of  France  in  1538.  He  died  that  same 
year.  His  wife  was  Philippes  de  Montespedon  ;  after 
his  death,  she  married  Charles  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de 
La  Roche-sur-Yon ;  she  was  godmother  to  Pare's 
child    Ambroise   (born    May,    1576,    died    January, 

1577)- 
M.  d'Annebaut :  Claude  d'Annebaut,  Chamberlain 

of  the  King,  Knight  of  the  Order  of  Saint  Michel, 

was  taken   prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Pavia,  Feb.  25, 

1525  ;  made  a  Marshal  of  France  in  1538,  Governor 

of    Piedmont,   1538,  Ambassador   at    Venice,    1539, 

Admiral  of  France,  1544;  died  1552. 


122 


Ambroise   Pare 


2.  The  Journey  to  Marolles  and  Low  Brit- 
tany. The  Journeys  to  Land  regies, 
Perpignan,  and   Boulogne,     i  543-1 545. 

Pare  returned  from  Turin  to  Paris  early  in  1539. 
and  was  there  till  1543.  Between  these  years,  he 
qualified  as  a  master  barber-surgeon,  settled  dov/n, 
married  Jehanne  ]\Iazelin,  worked  under  Sylvius,  and 
began  writing  his  book  on  Gunshot  Wounds. 

After  the  retreat  of  the  Emperor  from  Provence, 
the  treaty  of  Nice  was  signed  :  "  A  truce  to  last  for 
ten  years,  signed  more  from  weariness  of  fruitless 
war  than  from  any  real  desire  of  peace."  The  power 
of  the  Sultan  again  disturbed  the  peace  of  Europe : 
the  Turks  invaded  Hungary,  which  was  part  of  the 
Empire,  and  the  Emperor,  in  the  late  autumn  of 
1541,  sent  a  huge  fleet  against  the  Algerian  pirates. 
It  was  caught  in  a  storm,  and  the  greater  part  of  it 
was  destroyed.  "  The  sea  was  free  of  the  Emperor 
now;  the  fleur-de-lis  and  the  crescent  sailed  side  by 
side."  In  1543,  a  Franco-Turkish  squadron  bom- 
barded Nice,  and  the  Turkish  soldiers  ravaged  the 
place  when  it  fell.  The  Emperor  raged  furiousl}^ 
seeing  his  fleet  scattered,  and  the  "  Padishah  of 
France  "  in  open  alliance  at  one  and  the  same  time 
with  the  Infidels  and  with  the  German  Protestants, 
yet  as  King  of  Catholic  France  persecuting  the  Re- 
formed Church  in  his  own  country.     "  All  my  life 


Notes  to  Journeys  12^ 


has  been  given  to  appease  the  woes  of  the  Church, 
and  to  save  the  faith  of  Christ  from  the  Turks.  All 
his  life,  the  King  of  France  has  been  siding  with  the 
Infidels,  and  troubling  the  peace  of  Christendom." 
He  obtained  the  help  of  England  and  of  Spain  ;  they 
would  invade  France  all  three  together.  The  Span- 
ish troops  were  to  enter  Piedmont,  and  advance 
upon  Lyon.  The  Emperor  and  the  King  of  Eng- 
land were  to  meet  under  the  walls  of  Paris. 

The  fortune  of  war  was  with  France.  The  Span- 
ish army  was  defeated  a  few  miles  south  of  Turin, 
by  the  Due  d'Enghien,  at  the  battle  of  Cerisoles, 
April  14,  1544,  with  loss  of  twelve  thousand  men,  and 
all  their  artillery  and  baggage.  The  English  troops 
did  not  get  farther  than  Boulogne  and  IMontreuil, 
The  Emperor  came  within  eighty  miles  of  Paris, 
capturing  on  his  way  Saint  Dizier,  Epernay,  and 
Chateau  Thierry  ;  but  the  Dauphin  was  at  Meaux, 
between  him  and  Paris.  The  English  were  no  nearer 
than  Boulogne  ;  there  was  no  help  now  to  be  got 
from  Spain,  and  the  Emperor,  thus  isolated,  was 
willing  to  come  to  terms.  The  peace  of  Crespy  was 
signed  on  September  17,  1546.  Boulogne  was  ceded 
to  England  for  a  term  of  years,  on  annual  payment 
of  a  large  sum  of  money. 

According  to  the  dates  given  by  Pare,  he  was  first 
in  Brittany,  against  the  English  ;  then  with  the  King 


124  Ambroise  Pare 


at  Landrecies ;  then  at  Perpignan,  on  the  Gulf  of 
Lyon,  against  the  Spaniards ;  then  at  Boulogne, 
with  the  Due  de  Guise,  against  the  English  again. 
But  according  to  Le  Paulmier,  the  journey  to  Perpi- 
gnan came  first,  and  the  dates  are  as  follows :  Perpi- 
gnan was  besieged  from  August  26  to  September  4, 
1542  ;  the  journey  to  Marolles  and  Low  Brittany  w^as 
in  June,  1543  ;  the  King  was  at  Landrecies  in  Octo- 
ber, 1543,  and  went  thence  to  Guise,  the  Duke's 
place,  on  November  2.  The  fighting  at  Boulogne 
was  in  August,  1545.  Between  Perpignan  and  Lan- 
drecies, and  again  between  Landrecies  and  Boulogne, 
Ambroise  was  in  Paris.  His  first  child  was  baptised 
July  4,  1545.  His  first  book,  the  treatise  on  Gun- 
shot Wounds,  w-as  published  in  August  of  that  same 
year. 

The  journey  to  Perpignan  was  made  by  such  rapid 
posting  on  horseback  that  he  was  taken  ill  on  the 
way,  at  Lyon,  with  haematuria. 

Perpignan  is  on  the  Gulf  of  Lyon.  Marolles  or 
Maroilles  was  a  village  thirteen  kilom.  west  of  Aves- 
nes.  Landreneau,  a  fortified  harbour  twenty-five 
kilom.  from  Brest.  Landrecies,  on  the  Sambre,  is 
described  in  R.  L.  Stevenson's  Inland  Voyage. 

M.  de  Rohan  :  Rene,  Vicomte  de  Rohan,  Comte  de 
Porrhoet,  de  la  Garnache,  de  Beauvoir-sur-Mer,  et  de 
Carentan,  Prince  de  Leon:  married,  in  1534,  Isabella 


Notes  to  Journeys  125 

d'Albret,  daughter  of  Jehan,  King  of  Navarre  ;  was 
killed  at  Saint  Nicholas,  near  Nancy,  November  4, 
1552.  The  town  of  Rohan  was  not  far  from  Fare's 
birthplace.  To  M.  de  Rohan  was  dedicated  Fare's 
first  book. 

M.  de  Brissac :  Charles  de  Coss6,  Comte  de  Brissac, 
"  le  beau  Brissac  :  "  became  a  Marshal  of  France,  and 
Governor  of  Ficardy.  One  of  his  daughters  married 
the  Comte  de  Mansfeld,  of  whom  we  hear  after  the 
battle  of  Moncontour.  He  was  father  of  the  de 
Brissac  who  fought  at  the  battle  of  Saint  Denis.  He 
died  of  the  gout,  aged  57,  December  31,  1563. 

M.  Nicole  Lavernot :  surgeon-in-ordinary  to  Henri 
H.  and  Francois  H.,  and  in  1559  premier  surgeon  to 
Charles  IX.     He  died  toward  the  end  of  1561. 

M.  d' Etampes :  Jean  de  Brosse,  Due  d'Etampes, 

M.  de  Laval :  Claude,  Comte  de  Laval  (Fare's  birth- 
place), sixteenth  of  his  line ;  married  a  daughter  of 
Odet  de  Foix  ;  died  May  25,  1547.  His  widow 
married  Charles  de  Luxembourg,  Vicomte  de  Mar- 
tigues,  of  whom  we  hear  again  at  the  siege  of 
Hesdin. 

Monseigneur  le  Due  de  Gtiise:  The  great  Francois, 
Due  de  Guise,  Frince  de  Joinville,  head  of  the  house 
of  the  Guises  ;  brother  of  Charles,  Cardinal  of  Lorra- 
ine, and  of  the  Due  d'  Aumale,  and  of  Marie  de 
Lorraine,  who  was  wife  of  James  V.  of  Scotland  and 


126  Ambroise  Pare 


mother  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  He  was  father  of 
Henri,  afterward  Due  de  Guise,  and  of  his  brother 
the  Cardinal,  who  were  murdered  by  order  of  Henri 
HI.,  December  23,  1588. 

He  was  born  at  Bar-le-Duc,  February  17,  1519: 
assassinated  by  Jehan  de  Poltrot,  Sieurde  Mere,  Feb- 
ruary 18,  1563.  He  was  nicknamed  Balafr6,  from 
the  scar  of  his  wound  at  Boulogne.  An  account  of 
Fare's  treatment  of  him  is  given  in  a  Life  of  Coligny, 
published  in  1686.  The  great  Coligny  was  at  the 
siege  of  Boulogne  :  being  then  only  M.  de  Chatillon, 
and  not  yet  Admiral  of  France.  So  soon  as  he  heard 
of  the  Duke's  wound,  he  sent  his  own  surgeon  to 
him  :  but  the  surgeon  dared  not  attempt  to  remove 
the  spear-head  from  the  Duke's  face,  and  came  back 
to  Coligny,  saying  all  the  King's  surgeons  could  do 
nothing  in  such  a  case  :  there  was  no  way  of  with- 
drawing the  spear-head,  or  of  getting  any  hold  on  it : 
the  Duke's  eye  would  come  out  if  they  removed  the 
weapon,  and  then  everybody  would  say  the  surgeon 
had  done  it.  Finally,  how  was  it  possible  to  cure  a 
wound  of  which  nobody  had  ever  before  heard  the 
like?  Thus  Coligny's  surgeon.  Nor  was  Par6  him- 
self hopeful  of  success,  as  the  spear-head  was  firmly 
wedged  among  the  bones  of  the  face.  More  to  obey 
orders  than  with  any  assurance  he  would  save  the  great 
soldier's  life,  he  took  a  pair  of  smith's  pincers,  and 


Notes  to  Journeys  127 


asked  the  Duke  if  he  could  bear  to  let  him  put  his 
foot  upon  the  Duke's  face,  to  get  a  better  purchase 
on  the  weapon.  "  Why  not?  "  said  he,  "  And  would 
I  not  rather  you  did  me  a  little  harm  for  my  great 
good,  than  forbid  you  to  help  me  for  fear  of  a  pain 
that  will  pass  in  a  moment?"  Par6  then  tore  out 
the  spear-head:  the  Duke  said  "  Ah,  mon  Dieu  " 
once,  and  that  was  all.  Pare  himself  held  it  marvel- 
lous that  he  recovered. 

3.  The  Journeys  to  Germany,  Danvilliers, 
AND  Chateau  le  Comte.  The  Journey 
TO  Metz.     1552-1553. 

Frangois  I.  died  March  31,1 547,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Henri  II.  So  long  as  the  peace  of 
Crespy  was  observed,  Pare  was  hard  at  work  in 
Paris.  His  book  on  anatomy  came  out  in  1550: 
and  that  year  he  bought  the  Maison  de  le  Vache,  and 
the  property  at  Meudon.  On  March  10,  1552,  the 
second  edition  of  the  Gunshot  Wounds  finished  print- 
ing :  and  that  very  week  the  army,  suddenly  called 
out,  was  to  meet  at  Chalons,  38,000  strong,  under  the 
Constable,  Guise,  Coligny,  d'  Aumale,  and  Saint 
Andr^. 

The  power  of  the  Emperor  was  at  its  zenith  :  those 
who  love  Victor  Hugo's  Hertiani  will  remember 
the  magnificent    description    of  it,  spoken  by  the 


128  Ambroise  Pare 


Emperor  himself,  as  he  stands  alone  before  the  tomb 
of  Charlemagne.  He  was  master  of  Central  Europe, 
Spain,  Italy,  and  the  Netherlands  :  the  Pope  was  on 
his  side:  the  disturbing  forces  of  the  Reformation  in 
Germany  had  been  checked  by  his  victory  at  Miihl- 
berg,  in  1545,  over  the  German  Protestants.  Henri 
n.  saw  his  country  in  danger:  he  appealed  for  help 
to  the  Sultan,  as  his  father  had  done  before  him  ; 
gave  up  a  scheme  for  the  invasion  of  England,  and 
sought  alliance  with  her  ;  declared  war  on  the  Pope, 
named  himself  defender  of  the  freedom  of  Germany, 
and  gained  over  to  his  side  Maurice  of  Saxony;  "he 
gave  the  blood  of  his  own  Protestant  subjects  as  the 
-price  of  a  policy  which  made  him,  almost  everywhere, 
the  enemy  of  the  orthodox,  the  friend  of  heretics  and 
evil-doers." 

In  the  winter  of  1551,  there  was  a  conference,  at 
Fontainebleau,  with  the  Protestant  princes  of  Ger- 
many, who  appealed  to  the  King  for  help  against  the 
Emperor.  On  the  second  day  of  the  conference, 
the  King  was  told  what  threats  the  Emperor  had  used 
against  him  :  how  he  was  planning  to  seize  Metz, 
Strasbourg,  Verdun,  and  other  towns.  The  King 
declared  war :  the  army  was  to  meet  at  Chalons  : 
he  entered  Toul  on  April  13,  1552,  and  Nancy  the 
next  day.  Metz,  after  some  hesitation,  opened  her 
gates  to  him    four  days   later:   Strasbourg  refused 


Notes  to  journeys  129 


admittance  to  him,  and  he  retired  to  Verdun,  "well 
pleased  to  be  holding  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun,  the 
keys  of  France  against  Germany,  with  an  army  com- 
manded by  young,  enthusiastic,  and  careful  officers. 
It  was  more  like  a  triumphal  progress  than  a  real 
war :  the  three  free  cities,  the  bishoprics  of  Metz, 
Toul,  Verdun,  had  been  brought  back  to  the  crown 
of  France."  By  June  ist,  the  army  was  on  its  way 
to  Luxembourg:  where  its  first  exploit  (July  1st) 
was  the  siege  and  capture  of  Danvilliers. 

The  Emperor,  so  soon  as  war  was  declared,  made 
haste  to  leave  Germany  quiet  behind  him  ;  on 
August  2  he  signed  with  the  Protestant  princes  the 
treaty  of  Passau  ;  for  six  months  the  Catholics  and 
the  Protestants  of  Germany  were  to  enjoy  equal 
privileges  ;  the  questions  of  religion  were  hung  up, 
to  be  considered  at  a  diet  six  months  hence.  Then 
he  advanced  toward  Metz  with  an  army  of  sixty 
thousand  men. 

The  famous  siege  of  Metz  broke  the  power  of  the 
Emperor,  and  prepared  the  world  for  his  abdication 
in  1556.  The  command  of  the  town  was  given  by 
the  King  to  Frangois  de  Guise,  who  wrote  joyfully 
to  Diane  de  Poitiers,  the  King's  mistress,  who  at 
fifty  was  still  young,  still  shaping  the  fate  of  France, 
and  thanked  her  for  helping  him  to  obtain  the  ever- 
lasting honour  of  pulling  the  Emperor's  beard.     He 


130  Ambroise   Pare 


passed  through  Toul,  where  the  plague  was  raging, 
restored  its  fortifications  at  his  own  cost,  and  reached 
Metz  on  the  17th  of  August.  He  set  to  work  with 
furious  energy,  reconnoitring  the  country,  victualHng 
the  town, drilling  the  recruits;  he  organised  the  bar- 
ber-surgeons of  Metz  into  a  sort  of  ambulance  corps, 
established  two  hospitals,  restored  the  fortifications, 
and  pulled  down  all  the  suburban  buildings  that 
might  afford  a  foothold  to  the  enemy  ;  working  with 
his  own  hands,  and  taking  his  food  among  the  la- 
bourers. When  Alva,  on  October  19th,  came  be- 
neath the  walls  with  twenty-four  thousand  men,  he 
had  to  reckon  not  with  raw  recruits,  but  with  well- 
trained  soldiers.  On  October  30th,  Alva  began  the 
assault.  The  Emperor  was  at  Thionville,  twenty 
miles  to  the  north,  ill  with  the  gout,  unable  to 
stand :  he  did  not  arrive  till  November  20th,  his 
face  pale  and  haggard,  his  eyes  sunken,  his  beard 
turned  white :  he  was  lodged  in  a  hut  built  anyhow 
for  him  near  Alva's  quarters.  "  A  fine  palace,"  says 
he,  "  when  they  bring  me  the  keys  of  Metz  here." 

From  November  20th  to  26th,  the  attack  was  in- 
cessant ;  it  is  said  that  in  one  day  fourteen  thousand 
cannon-shots  were  fired.  The  breach  in  the  walls  was 
made  on  the  28th.  But  with  winter  came  storms  of 
rain  and  heavy  snow ;  and  frightful  mortality  in  the 
Imperial  army  from  cold  and  wet,  hunger  and  epi- 


Notes  to  Journeys  131 


demic  disease.  The  Emperor,  ill  and  worn  out,  lost 
heart :  "  I  have  no  men  with  me  now  ;  I  must  say- 
good-bye  to  my  empire,  and  shut  myself  in  a  monas- 
tery ;  I  shall  turn  friar  before  three  years  are  out." 
And  again,  when  at  last  he  was  forced  to  raise  the 
siege,  just  before  Christmas  Day:  "Fortune  is  like 
the  women :  she  prefers  a  young  king  to  an  old  em- 
peror." There  ran  through  the  town  a  song  that  one 
of  the  French  soldiers  made  : 

"  Monsieur  de  Guise  est  dedans, 

Avec  beaucoup  de  noblesse     .     .     . 

Pour  conclusion,  ils  ont  leve 

De  devant  Metz  I'artillerie, 

Et  tout  leur  camp  ont  fait  marcher  : 

Qui  leur  est  grande  moquerie. 

Le  noble  seigneur  de  Guise 

Sur  la  queue  leur  fit  aller 

Grand  nombre  de  cavalerie, 

Pour  les  apprendre  a  cheminer." 

Guise  would  hardly  believe  they  had  gone.  Even 
on  Christmas  Eve  he  wrote  to  his  brother  Charles, 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine :  "  Don't  tell  me  the  Emperor 
will  move  from  here ;  be  sure  that,  unless  he  is  play- 
ing some  very  deep  trick  on  us,  so  long  as  he  is  alive 
he  will  not  bear  the  shame  of  leaving  this  place  be- 
fore he  has  seen  the  end  of  it." 


During  1552  and  1553  Park's  movements  were  as 
follows:  In  April,  1552,  he  was  with  the  King  in  his 


1^2  Ambroise  Pare 


triumphal  progress  through  Toul  and  Metz  ;  in  July 
he  was  at  Danvilliers  with  him.  Then  he  got  back 
to  Paris,  but  soon  left  home  again  for  Chateau  le 
Comte,  near  Hesdin  ;  then  back  again,  via  Tournan, 
to  Paris  ;  then  off  again,  via  Verdun,  to  Metz.  He 
got  into  Metz  at  midnight,  December  8th ;  thus  he  was 
an  eye-witness  of  the  last  fortnight  only  of  the  siege. 
He  left  Metz  about  the  middle  of  January,  1553.  ' 

M.  Begin  gives  the  following  details  of  his  return 
from  Metz.  They  are  taken  from  a  journal,  122  small 
quarto  pages,  said  to  be  in  Park's  own  hand,  shown 
to  M.  Begin  at  Metz.  The  genuineness  of  this  manu- 
script is  denied  by  Le  Paulmier ;  and  up  to  1885,  M. 
Begin  had  not  submitted  it  to  the  test  of  publication. 

According  to  this  manuscript  Journal  des  Voyages, 
Pare  left  Metz  in  the  company  of  some  French  offi- 
cers and  citizens  of  the  town  :  he  was  on  a  fine  bay 
horse,  a  present  from  Guise  himself,  and  his  man 
rode  behind  him  with  his  leather  valise  containing 
instruments,  salves,  and  dressings.  They  went 
slowly,  taking  three  days  to  get  to  Verdun,  where 
they  had  to  parley  for  admission,  and  show  a  pass 
with  Guise's  signature.  He  found  Verdun  crowded 
with  fugitives,  and  among  the  wounded  many  cases 
of  hospital  gangrene :  supplies  had  run  short,  and 
fever  was  raging  everywhere.  "  The  Franciscan 
fathers,  taking   night-watch,  after   great   courtesies 


Notes  to  Journeys  133 


prayed  me  with  much  kindness  to  go  with  them  to 
the  highest  part  of  the  town,  and  there  they  made  a 
great  fire  to  keep  off  the  plague  :  whereat  I  was  easy 
and  reassured.  The  reverend  fathers  gave  me  a 
bowl  of  hippocras  ;  my  man  made  my  bed,  and  I 
slept  as  it  pleased  God."  Next  day,  for  six  hours, 
he  went  the  round  of  such  hospitals  as  Verdun  had 
been  able  to  set  going  :  "  where  the  poor  patients 
were  lying,  so  that  it  was  pitiful  to  see  and  hear 
them,  often  having  neither  linen  nor  straw  to  suffice 
them."  Here  he  did  a  number  of  operations,  and 
was  invited  by  the  Governor  of  Verdun  to  stop  with 
him,  but  preferred  the  hospitality  of  a  surgeon  living 
near  the  archers'  lodgings :  "  a  man  of  a  good  heart, 
and  well  experienced  in  his  calling.  This  honest 
surgeon  entertained  me  better  than  one  would  have 
believed  of  a  town  in  famine  and  plague.  After  a 
night  in  a  good  bed,  I  took  the  old  road,  and  went 
straight  to  Rheims." 

He  got  back  to  Paris  about  the  end  of  January, 
and  began  his  lectures  on  anatomy.  Th6odoric  de 
H^ry  was  not  working  with  him  now,  but  a  younger 
man,  Rostaing  de  Binosc,  a  Provengal,  chirurgien 
jure  a  Paris. 

M.  d'  Aumale :  The  Due  d'  Aumale,  brother  of 
Francois  de  Guise. 


134  Ambroise  Pare 


M.  de  Saint  Andr^ :  Jacques  d'  Albon,  made 
Marshal  of  France  in  1547:  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Dreux,  December  19,  1562. 

M.  de  Vendosme :  Antoine  de  Bourbon,  Due  de 
Vendosme :  afterward  King  of  Navarre,  by  his  mar- 
riage with  Jeanne  d'  Albret,  Queen  of  Navarre,  in 
1548.  Father  of  Henri  IV.  Born,  15 18.  Died  at 
the  siege  of  Rouen,  1562. 

M.  dti  Goguier :  Louis  de  Bourges,  born  at  Blois 
about  1482.  M.  D.,  Paris,  November  15,  1506: 
physician-in-ordinar)'  to  Louis  XIL,  premier  physi- 
cian to  Frangois  L  and  Henri  H. :  he  devoted  him- 
self to  obtain  the  liberation  of  Frangois  L  after  the 
battle  of  Pavia  (1525)  and  was  made  Seigneur  du 
Gauguier  et  de  Mesland,  en  Touraine  :  died  Novem- 
ber 19,  1556. 

M.  de  Condd :  Louis  de  Bourbon,  Prince  de 
Cond6  :  the  great  leader,  with  Coligny,  of  the  Hu- 
guenot army:  killed  at  the  battle  of  Jarnac,  1569. 
Brother  of  the  King  of  Navarre. 

M.  d'  Enghien :  Jean  de  Bourbon,  Due  d'  Enghien, 
Comte  de  Soissons. 

M.  de  La  Roche-sur-Yon :  Charles  de  Bourbon, 
Prince  de  La  Roche-sur-Yon :  died  1 565.  Lieutenant- 
General  of  the  King's  armies,  1557:  Governor  of 
Dauphin^,  1562.  He  married  the  widow  of  M.  de 
Montejan,  Pare's  first  master  at  the  wars. 


Notes  to  Journeys  135 


M.  de  Montpensier  ;  Louis  de  Bourbon,  Due  de 
Montpensier. 

M.  de  Vielleville :  Frangois  de  Seipieaux,  Seigneur 
de  Vielleville  et  de  Duretal,  made  Marshal  of  France 
in  1562:  died  November  30,  1571. 

M.  le  due  Horace :  Probably  this  was  Horace  Far- 
nese,  Due  de  Castro,  nephew  of  Pope  Alexander 
Farnese  :  we  hear  of  him  again,  a  few  months  later. 

M.  de  Martigiies :  Charles  de  Luxembourg, 
Vicomte  de  Martigues :  married  Claude,  widow  of 
the  Comte  de  Laval.  We  hear  of  him  again  at 
Hesdin. 

4.  The  Journey  to  Hesdin.     1553. 

In  155 1-2,  Ambroise  Pare  finished  the  second 
edition,  dedicated  to  the  King,  of  his  book  on 
Gunshot  Wounds. 

He  was  not  long  left  in  peace.  After  the  retreat 
from  Metz  (Christmas,  1552)  the  German  army  moved 
westward,  and  in  the  early  summer  of  1553  besieged 
Theroiienne,  a  few  miles  south  of  Boulogne.  Theroii- 
enne  was  a  small  place,  but  important  by  reason  of 
its  position,  lying  near  the  Netherlands,  and  serving 
also  to  keep  a  check  on  Calais,  which  was  till  1558  in 
the  possession  of  England.  In  15 13,  Theroiienne 
had  been  taken  by  the  English,  but  in  1527  had  been 
retaken  by  the  French :  then  Francois  I.  had  fortified 


136  Ambroise  Par^ 


it,  and  used  to  compare  it  to  a  pillow,  on  which  he 
could  rest  his  head  and  feel  comfortable. 

The  news  of  the  siege  of  Theroiienne  reached  Paris 
in  the  middle  of  grand  festivities.  Horace  Farnese, 
Due  de  Castro,  was  just  married  to  Diane  d'  Angou- 
leme,  a  natural  daughter  of  the  King ;  and  Paris,  ex- 
ulting over  the  retreat  of  the  Emperor  from  before 
Metz,  was  given  up  to  holiday-making.  The  news 
was  taken  in  a  light-hearted  way,  though  Theroiienne 
was  neither  well  garrisoned  nor  well  provisioned. 
Some  troops  were  sent  under  the  command  of  Fran- 
9ois  de  Montmorency,  son  of  the  Constable ;  but 
the  enemy  attacked  the  place  so  furiously  that  on 
June  20,  after  ten  hours'  assault,  Montmorency  sur- 
rendered and  was  taken  prisoner,  and  the  town  was 
stormed,  sacked,  and  razed  to  the  ground.  The 
Emperor  was  at  Brussels,  when  he  heard  of  it : 
throughout  the  Netherlands  there  was  great  light- 
ing of  bonfires,  ringing  of  church  bells,  and  firing  of 
salutes. 

Then  Hesdin,  close  to  Theroiienne,  was  served  the 
same  way.  Hesdin  had  already  seen  war:  in  1521, 
being  then  in  the  possession  of  Germany,  it  had  been 
captured  for  France  by  the  Due  de  Bourbon. 

Hesdin  fell  on  July  17,  1553  ;  and  Par6  came  so 
near  death,  that  his  story  of  Hesdin  is  one  of  the 
most  fascinating  of  all  the  Journeys.     He  was  at  this 


Notes  to  Journeys  137 


time  forty-three  years  old,  and  had  followed  the  wars, 
off  and  on,  for  sixteen  years. 

The  following  year,  1554,  to  avenge  these  losses, 
Henri  11.  led  an  army  into  Hainault  and  Flanders. 
He  sacked  Marienbourg  and  Dinant,  and,  at  the  other 
end  of  the  Netherlands,  attacked  Renty,  not  far  from 
St.  Omer,  but  failed  to  take  it. 

M.  de  Savoire:  Emmanuel  Philibert,  "Tete  de  Fer," 
Due  de  Savoie,  born  at  Chamb6ry,  1528  ;  died,  1580  ; 
served  under  the  Emperor  at  Metz  and  Hesdin,  and 
won  the  battle  of  Saint  Quentin,  August  10,  1557. 
After  the  peace  of  Cateau  Cambresis,  1559,  he  mar- 
ried Marguerite,  the  King's  sister. 

The  Queen  of  Hungary  :  the  Arch-Duchess  Marie. 

5.    The  Battle  of  Saint  Quentin.    The 
Journey  to  Amiens.    1557-1558. 

From  1553  to  1557,  Pare  was  hard  at  work  in  Paris. 
In  1554  he  was  admitted  to  the  College  of  Sur- 
geons, and  took  the  degree  of  master  of  surgery ; 
he  was  surgeon-in-ordinary  to  the  King ;  he  was  hard 
at  work  on  anatomy,  and  in  good  practice.  He 
and  his  wife  were  still  childless. 

In  England,  by  the  death  of  Edward  VI.  in  1553, 
Mary  came  to  the  throne  ;  and  took  for  her  husband 
Philip  II.  of  Spain,  son  of  the  Emperor.  By  the 
abdication  of    the    Emperor  in    January,   1556,  his 


138  Ambrolse  Pare 


brother,  Ferdinand  of  Austria,  received  the  Imperial 
title.  Spain,  Burgundy,  and  the  Netherlands,  went 
to  Philip.  Following  the  abdication,  a  truce  for  five 
years,  the  treaty  of  Vaucelles,  was  signed  on  Febru- 
ary 5>  1556)  by  the  Emperor,  and  by  Coligny  for  the 
King. 

The  forces  of  war  had  now  become  centred  in  Italy. 
Montluc  held  Siena  for  nine  months  against  the  Im- 
perialist and  Florentine  troops ;  de  Brissac,  in  Pied- 
mont, opposed  Alva  with  good  success ;  Corsica  and 
Elba  fell  into  the  hands  of  France;  Guise  himself, 
with  20,000  men,  entered  Rome  as  the  friend  and 
ally  of  Pope  Paul  IV.  against  the  Spaniards,  passed 
into  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  besieged  Civitella, 
but  failed  to  take  it.  Philip,  by  his  hold  on  Milan 
and  Naples,  and  by  his  English  marriage,  and  his 
power  in  the  Netherlands,  was  threatening  both  Italy 
and  France.  The  Pope,  seeing  the  Spaniards  on  all 
sides  of  him,  took  the  side  of  France,  and  pro- 
nounced Philip  excommunicate. 

In  1557,  Philip  and  Mary  declared  war  on  France; 
and  the  battle  of  Saint  Quentin,  called  also,  from 
the  day,  the  battle  of  Saint  Laurence,  was  fought  on 
the  loth  of  August.  Philip's  army  was  47,000  men, 
of  whom  9000  were  English ;  the  Due  de  Savoie  had 
the  chief  command.  The  French  army,  commanded 
by  the  Constable,  Cond6,  Coligny,  d'Enghien,  Mont- 


Notes  to  Journeys  139 


pensier,  and  d'Andelot,  Coligny's  younger  brother, 
was  defeated.  D'Enghien  was  killed  ;  the  Constable, 
Coligny,  and  Montpensier,  were  taken  prisoners. 
Cond^  and  de  Nevers,  with  the  remains  of  the  army, 
made  their  way  to  La  F^re  ;  d'Andelot  escaped 
capture. 

Guise,  furious  at  the  bad  news,  rushed  back  from 
Italy,  leaving  the  Pope  to  make  what  terms  he  could 
with  Alva.  On  October  20th,  Guise  conferred  with 
the  King,  at  Saint  Germain,  by  what  sudden  blow 
they  could  avenge  themselves  on  Spain  and  Eng- 
land. By  New  Year's  Day,  155S,  he  was  under  the 
walls  of  Calais ;  in  a  week,  he  captured  it ;  the  Eng- 
lish governor.  Lord  Wentworth,  was  taken  prisoner, 
the  English  garrison  was  shipped  off;  Calais,  after  be- 
ing for  two  hundred  and  ten  years  in  the  hands  of 
England,  became  on  January  9th  a  town  of  France. 
Eleven  days  later.  Queen  Mary  died. 

At  La  Fere,  August,  1557,  ended  Park's  twenty 
years'  service  against  the  enemies  of  his  country. 
Henceforth  he  saw  the  wars  of  religion,  and  France 
her  own  enemy.  He  was  now  forty-eight  years  old  ; 
no  longer  a  vagrant  barber-surgeon  picking  up  work 
and  a  living  in  the  wars,  but  a  famous  surgeon,  with 
a  lot  of  rich  patients  wanting  him  back  in  Paris. 
He  was  longing  to  get  away  from  La  Fere :  "  il 
m  'ennuyoit  beaucoup  la :  je  priay  M.  le  Mareschal 


J  40  Ambroise  Pare 

de  me  donner  conge  de  m'en  aller,  et  avois  peur  de 
demeurer  malade."  It  sounds  like  the  French  gen- 
tleman of  whom  Hotspur  fell  foul : 

"  And,  as  the  soldiers  bore  dead  bodies  by, 
He  called  them  untaught  knaves,  unmannerly, 
To  bring  a  slovenly  unhandsome  corpse 
Betwixt  the  wind  and  his  nobility." 

But  he  who  will  read  again  the  horrors  of  La  F^re 
will  not  find  fault  with  Fare's  desire  to  get  back  to 
his  childless  home  and  his  daily  work  in  Paris. 

La  Fere :  A  small  fortified  town,  24  kilom.  from 
Chateau-Thierry.  The  ruins  of  a  castle,  XIII.  cen- 
tury, are  still  to  be  seen  there.  R.  L.  Stevenson  has 
described  La  Fere  in  his  Inland  Voyage. 

M.  le  Mar^schal  Bourdillon  :  "  Non  Mar^schal  de 
France,  mais  simple  mareschal  des  camps  et  armies 
de  Roi,  grade  Equivalent  k  celui  de  g6n6ral  de  brig- 
ade."— E.  BEgin. 

M.  de  Lorraine  :  Charles,  Cardinal  de  Lorraine, 
brother  of  Francois  de  Guise. 

Donrlan  :  Now  called  Doullens :  the  fortifications 
were  demolished  in  1867:  the  castle  is  still  standing. 

Antoine  Portail :  Born  1530  (?) ;  came  to  Paris  as 
a  member  of  the  household  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre, 
and  was  made  a  master  barber-surgeon  in  Paris; 
married  Jacqueline  de  Prime,  a  kinswoman  of  ParE. 


Notes  to  Journeys  141 


Surgeon  to  Henri  II.,  Charles  IX.,  and  Henri  III.; 
attended  Henri  III.  on  his  assassination,  1588  ;  was 
living  in  iS9S>  fiv'e  years  after  Fare's  death.  It  was 
after  Portail  had  bled  Charles  IX.  that  the  King 
had,  for  some  months,  a  contracted  arm,  which  got 
well  under  Fare's  care. 

6.  The  Journeys  to  Bourges  and  Rouen. 
The  Battle  of  Dreux.  The  Journey  to 
Havre,     i  562-1 563. 

Fare's  life  in  Faris,  from  1558  to  1562,  was  marked 
by  many  events  of  importance  to  him  and  to  his 
home  :  the  births  of  Isaac  and  of  Catherine,  his  ap- 
pointment as  premier  surgeon  to  the  King,  his 
broken  leg,  his  evidence  in  the  case  of  Mile,  de 
Rohan,  and  the  publication  of  his  books  on  General 
Anatomy,  and  on  Wounds  of  the  Head. 

During  these  same  years,  great  changes  came  on 
France.  In  April,  1558,  Mary  Stuart,  daughter  of 
James  V.  of  Scotland  and  of  Marie  de  Lorraine, 
having  lived  many  years  at  the  French  Court  under 
the  care  of  her  uncles  the  Guises,  was  married  to  the 
Dauphin,  afterward  Francois  II.  In  April,  1559,  the 
peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis  was  signed  between 
Henri  II.,  Fhilip,  Elizabeth,  and  the  princes  allied 
with  Spain,  among  whom  at  that  time  was  WilHam, 


142  Ambroise  Pare 


Prince  of  Orange.  By  it,  France  kept  the  three 
episcopal  towns,  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun,  and  re- 
ceived back  Saint  Quentin  ;  a  great  number  of  towns 
in  the  Netherlands  and  in  Italy  was  restored  to 
Spain  and  her  allies  ;  Calais  was  to  remain  in  the 
possession  of  France,  on  payment  of  a  large  sum  of 
money  to  England. 

In  July,  1559,  came  the  King's  death.  A  year 
and  a  half  later,  died  the  first  of  the  three  sons  who 
succeded  him,  Francois  II.,  aged  seventeen  when  he 
died  (December,  1560),  "having  reigned  seventeen 
months,  seventeen  days,  and  seventeen  hours " 
(L'Estoile).  To  him  succeeded  his  brother,  Charles 
IX.,  then  ten  and  a  half  years  old,  under  the  regency 
of  the  Queen-mother. 

In  March,  1560,  came  the  plot  of  the  Seigneur  de 
La  Renaudie  against  the  Guises;  in  1562,  the  mas- 
sacres of  the  Huguenots  at  Vassy  and  at  Sens,  and 
the  first  war  of  religion.  After  forty  years  of  martyr- 
dom* and  of  ever-growing  strength,  the  Huguenots 
took  the  sword  lest  they  should  perish  by  the  sword. 
To  the  tyranny  of  the  Guises,  the  Reformed  Church 

*  After  the  period  of  the  persecutions,  came  the  wars  ;  and  the 
brutality  of  the  age  was  in  both  armies  alike.  Stories  are  told  of 
murder  and  torture  of  defenceless  Catholics  by  the  Huguenot 
soldiers,  as  terrible  as  those  that  are  told  of  Alva's  Spaniards. 
See  the  Archives  Curieuses^  containing  a  long  extract  from  a  book 
published  in  Antwerp,  1588,  entitled  Theatre  des  Cruautez  des 
HerMques  de  nostre  temps. 


Notes  to  Journeys  143 


opposed  an  army  led  by  Cond6  and  CoHgny.  Civil 
war,  once  begun,  raged  off  and  on  for  thirty-two 
years,  and  was  not  ended  till  the  conversion  of  Henri 
IV.  to  the  Catholic  faith  in  1594. 

The  war  of  1562  seemed  to  break  out  everywhere 
at  once.  The  Huguenot  cause  was  at  its  weakest  in 
Paris  (the  date  of  the  first  Reformed  church  in  Paris 
is  so  late  as  1555)  but  it  was  strong  in  the  country 
towns  and  in  the  provinces.  Within  six  weeks,  two 
hundred  places  had  declared  for  it,  including  Lyon, 
Orleans,  Bourges,  and  Rouen.  Philip  sent  to  help 
the  Catholic  army  3000  Spaniards,  of  whose  brutality 
fearful  stories  are  told.  Elizabeth  sent  a  like  num- 
ber of  English  to  Cond6  and  Coligny,  on  condition 
that  Havre  should  be  ceded  to  England. 

Rouen  was  captured  on  the  26th  of  October,  1562. 
The  death  of  the  King  of  Navarre  was  hailed  by  the 
Huguenots  as  the  divine  judgment  on  a  renegade: 
it  was  an  age  of  skits  and  epigrams,  and  L'Estoile 
has  preserved  one  which  is  worth  quoting  here : 

"  Par  I'oeil,  I'espaule,  et  1'  oreille, 
Dieu  a  fait  en  France  merveille  ; 
Par  roreille,  I'espaule,  et  I'oeil, 
Dieu  a  mis  trois  rois  au  cerceuil ; 
Par  I'oeil,  Toreille,  et  I'espaule, 
Dieu  a  tue  trois  rois  en  Gaule, 
Antoine,  Frangois,  et  Henry, 
Qui  de  lui  point  n'  ont  eu  soucy." 


144  Ambroise  Pare 


When  the  King  of  Navarre  was  on  his  death-bed, 
he  received  a  visit  from  the  Queen-mother.  "  My 
brother,  how  are  you  passing  your  time  ?  You 
ought  to  have  somebody  to  read  to  you." — "  Madame, 
most  of  those  round  me  are  Huguenots." — "  They 
are  none  the  less  your  servants."  When  she  went, 
he  got  somebody  to  read  the  book  of  Job  to  him. 
Then  he  said :  "  I  know  well  what  you  will  all  be  say- 
ing ;  that  the  King  of  Navarre  was  converted,  and 
died  a  Huguenot.  Never  mind  what  I  am,  be  content 
that  I  wish  to  die  in  the  Augsberg  confession,  and 
if  I  recover  I  will  have  the  gospel  preached  again  in 
France"  (L'Estoile).  He  died  of  pyaemia  from  his 
wound  on  November  17th.  His  physician  was  de  La 
Mezieres,  who,  at  his  request,  stayed  by  his  side 
praying  for  him  ;  to  the  surprise  of  the  Cardinal  de 
Bourbon,  who  said  under  his  breath  that  these  Hu- 
guenots were  strange  people,  for  here  they  were 
using  the  same  prayers  as  the  Catholics.  The  King 
insisted  they  should  put  him  in  a  boat,  that  he 
might  get  out  of  the  pestiferous  air  of  Rouen  ;  but 
he  was  taken  with  a  rigor,  and  had  to  be  landed 
again.  He  left  6000  livres  to  "  his  surgeon."  I  sup- 
pose this  was  Ambroise  Par6,  for  Ambroise  always 
counted  the  King  of  Navarre  as  one  of  the  four 
Kings  whom  he  had  served.  The  whole  story  of 
the  King's  death  is  valuable  for  the  light  it  throws 


Notes  to  Journeys  145 


on  the  motives  of  the  wars  of  religion.  A  long  ac- 
count of  it,  written  by  a  Huguenot,  possibly  by  de 
La  M^zi^res,  is  published  in  the  Archives  Curieuses. 

It  was  at  Rouen  that  Pare  began  to  be  dissatisfied 
with  the  results  obtained  with  the  puppy-dog  oil ; 
henceforth  he  preferred  the  use  of  ^gyptiacum,  a 
more  stimulating  preparation.  But  when  he  pub- 
lished his  collected  works  he  still  spoke  well  of  the 
oil,  used  in  small  quantities. 

Cond6  escaped  capture  when  Rouen  fell :  the  work 
of  sacking  the  town  went  on  for  eight  days.  He 
raised  a  reinforcement  of  7000  German  mercenaries, 
and  advanced  as  far  as  the  environs  of  Paris,  but  was 
driven  back  by  Philip's  Spaniards.  Then  he  turned 
toward  Havre,  hoping  to  get  from  England  money 
to  pay  his  German  troops,  but  was  met  by  Guise's 
army  at  Dreux,  about  fifty  miles  south  of  Rouen. 
The  battle  of  Dreux  was  fought  on  December  19, 1 562: 
Guise,  the  Constable,  Saint  Andre,  and  17,000  men, 
against  Cond6,  Coligny,  d'Andelot,  and  12,000  men. 
The  victory  was  with  the  Catholics  ;  but  Saint  Andr^ 
was  killed,  and  the  Constable  was  wounded  and  taken 
prisoner.  Seven  thousand  men  were  killed  ;  Conde 
was  taken  prisoner,  and  put  under  the  guard  of 
Henri  de  Montmorency,  Seigneur  de  Dampville, 
Admiral  de  France.  Before  the  engagement  began, 
Guise  had  sent  to  the  Queen-mother  and  the  young 


146  Ambroise  Pare 


King,  asking  formal  leave  to  give  battle.  During 
the  audience,  the  old  Huguenot  nurse  came  into 
the  room ;  Catherine,  knowing  that  the  whole 
thing  was  a  mere  formality,  said  mocking,  "  We 
must  ask  the  King's  nurse  if  we  shall  give  battle ; 
what  do  you  think  of  that  ? "  The  old  lady  an- 
swered, "  Well,  Madame,  since  the  Huguenots  will 
never  be  satisfied,  you  must  make  them  listen  to 
reason." 

On  February  18,  1563,  Guise  was  assassinated  be- 
fore Orleans  by  Jean  Poltrot,  Seigneur  de  Mery. 
Every  least  detail  of  the  great  soldier's  death  has 
come  down  to  us,  and  the  story  of  it  is  full  of  inter- 
est. He  made  a  good  end.  There  was  no  time  to 
fetch  Ambroise  Par6  from  Paris ;  and  the  surgeons 
at  Orleans  treated  the  wound  with  caustics.  With 
Guise  dead,  and  the  Constable  and  Cond6  both  pris- 
oners, there  was  need  of  time  to  breathe ;  and  on 
March  19th  was  signed  the  peace  of  Amboise.  Thus 
ended  the  first  war  of  religion,  and  now  that  there 
was  peace,  a  combined  force  of  Catholics  and  Hu- 
guenots was  sent  against  the  English  In  Havre.  The 
town  was  but  poorly  defended,  and  after  six  days* 
siege  opened  its  gates  to  the  besiegers,  on  July  28, 

1563- 

M.  Lefevre  :  Physician-in-ordinary  to  Charles  IX., 
Henri  HI.,  and  the  Oueen-mother. 


Notes  to  Journeys  147 


M.  le  Cointe  d'Eu :  Francois  de  Cleves,  Due  de 
Nevers,  Comte  d'Auxerre,  de  Rethel,  et  d'Eu,  Seig- 
neur d'Orval ;  Governor  of  Champagne  ;  born,  1539; 
married  (i)  Anne  de  Bourbon,  (2)  Jacqueline  de 
Longwic.  It  was  under  his  command  that  the 
French  army  assembled  at  Laon  before  the  battle 
of  Saint  Quentin.  His  death  at  Dreux  was  by  acci- 
dent :  he  was  shot,  before  the  battle,  by  one  of  his 
own  gentlemen. 

M.Pigray  :  Pierre  Pigray  ;  born,  153 1  ;  a  pupil  of 
Pare;  master  of  surgery,  1564;  surgeon-in-ordinary 
to  Charles  IX.,  Henri  III.,  and  Henri  IV. ;  died, 
October  15,  1613. 

M.  Cointeret :  Jean  Cointeret,  born  at  Paris;  one 
of  the  surgeons  of  Le  Chatelet ;  died,  May  13,  1592. 

M.  Hubert :  Richard  Hubert ;  surgeon  to  Charles 
IX.;  died,  September  7,  1581.  He  attended  the 
Comte  de  Mansfeld  (see  the  Journey  to  Moncontoiir). 
He  was  with  Par6,  when  he  broke  his  leg  in  1561. 

7.    The  Journey  to  Bayonne.    i 564-1 565. 

Between  the  battle  of  Dreux  and  the  journey  to 
Havre,  Par6  rearranged  his  surgical  writings,  and 
added  many  new  chapters  to  them,  thus  making  up 
the  Ten  Books  of  Surgery,  which  finished  printing 
on  February  3,  1563.  Next  year,  began  that  strange 
Royal  progress  of  the  Queen-mother  and  the  young 


148  Ambroise   Pare 


King  through  the  provinces;  a  long  political  cam- 
paign against  the  Huguenots,  with  enforcement  of 
restrictions  and  prohibitions  against  them  in  the 
great  towns  of  France  ;  a  two  years'  tour,  with  this 
reason  given  for  it,  that  Charles  IX.  must  get  to 
know  his  people ;  but  its  real  object  was  to  weaken 
the  cause  of  the  Huguenots  throughout  the  king- 
dom, and  the  climax  of  it  was  the  conference  at 
Bayonne  with  Alva,  whose  suggestions  were  fulfilled 
seven  years  later  by  the  massacre  of  Saint  Bartholo- 
mew's Day. 

The  Court  left  Fontainebleau  on  March  13,  1564, 
and  went  by  way  of  Troyes,  Bar-le-Duc,  Dijon, 
Lyon,  and  Avignon,  to  Montpellier,  where  they 
passed  the  winter.  In  the  spring  of  1565,  came  the 
conference  at  Bayonne.  In  the  summer  the  Court 
moved  homeward  through  Bordeaux,  Tours,  Blois, 
and  Orleans,  and  came  back  to  Paris  in  December, 
1565-. 

Pare  must  have  hated  this  waste  of  his  time.  To 
make  the  best  use  of  it,  he  talked  diligently  with 
the  physicians  and  surgeons  in  the  towns  through 
which  the  Court  passed  ;  and  saw  many  patients  in 
consultation  with  them.  He  studied  the  plague,  not 
for  the  first  time:  it  was  raging  at  Lyon  in  1564. 
From  Bayonne,  he  went  to  attend  the  Prince  de  La 
Roche-sur-Yon  at  "  a  little  village  called  Biarris  "  ; 


Notes  to  Journeys  149 


and  here  he  interested  himself  in  the  whale  fisheries, 
and  brought  home  a  whale's  vertebra  to  add  to  the 
store  of  curious  things  in  his  house  at  Paris.  His 
account  of  the  whaling,  in  his  treatise  Of  Monsters 
and  Prodigies,  is  very  pleasant  reading  : 

"  At  Biarritz  I  learned  and  assured  myself  of  the 
means  they  use  to  take  the  whales,  as  I  had  read  in  the 
book  that  M.  Rondelet  has  written  about  fishes, 
which  is  as  follows  :  Over  against  the  said  village  there 
is  a  little  hill,  on  which  was  built  long  ago  a  tower  ex- 
pressly to  make  watch  from  it  both  day  and  night,  to 
discover  the  whales  that  pass  that  way  ;  and  they  see 
them  come,  part  by  the  great  noise  they  make,  part  by 
the  water  they  throw  up  through  the  passages  in  the 
front  of  their  heads.  And  seeing  them  coming,  they 
ring  a  bell,  at  whose  sound  all  those  in  the  village  run 
at  once,  well  provided  with  all  things  necessary  to  catch 
them.  They  have  many  ships  and  small  boats,  wherein 
are  some  men  set  apart  to  fish  out  those  who  may  fall 
into  the  sea,  others  to  give  fight  to  the  whale  ;  and  in 
each  boat  ten  good  strong  men  to  row  quick,  and  many 
others  with  barbed  irons  and  long  ropes  fastened  to 
them,  and  each  man's  iron  is  marked  with  his  own  mark 
that  he  may  know  it  again.  And  with  all  their  strength 
they  cast  them  at  the  whale  ;  and  when  they  see  she  is 
wounded,  which  they  know  by  the  blood  coming  out, 
they  let  out  the  ropes  of  their  irons  and  follow  the 
whale,  to  weary  her  and  take  her  more  easily  ;  and 
bringing  her  to  land,  they  rejoice  and  make  merry,  and 
divide  her,  each  man  having  his  portion  according  to 
what  he  has  done.     .     .     .     The  flesh  of  the  whale  is 


150  Ambroise  Par^ 


of  no  value  ;  but  the  tongue,  which  is  soft  and  dainty, 
they  salt ;  also  the  lard,  which  they  send  far  and  wide  into 
the  provinces,  to  be  eaten  in  Lent  with  peas  ;  they  keep 
the  fat  to  burn,  and  to  grease  their  boats.  Of  the  whale- 
bone they  make  farthingales,  stays  for  women,  knife- 
handles,  and  many  other  things.  Of  the  bones,  the  peas- 
ants make  fences  for  their  gardens  ;  and  seats  and  stools 
of  the  vertebrae.  I  took  one  away  with  me,  and  keep 
it  at  home  for  a  wonder." 

At  Montpellier  he  was  handling  some  vipers  in 
an  apothecary's  shop,  and  got  bitten  : 

"  Now  I  will  give  another  instance,  that  I  may  always 
instruct  the  young  surgeon.  When  King  Charles  was  at 
Montpellier,  I  was  bitten  by  a  viper  on  the  end  of  my 
first  finger,  between  the  nail  and  the  flesh,  in  the  house 
of  an  apothecary  named  de  Farges,  who  was  making  up 
some  U?iguentum  Theriacce.  I  asked  him  to  let  me  see 
the  vipers  he  was  going  to  put  in  it.  He  showed  me  a 
good  number  of  them,  that  he  kept  in  a  glass  vessel, 
whence  I  took  one  ;  and  was  bitten  by  it,  trying  to  see 
its  teeth,  which  are  in  the  upper  jaw,  covered  with  a 
little  membrane  where  it  keeps  its  poison,  which  it  ex- 
presses into  the  part  as  soon  as  it  has  made  a  wound 
there.  And  having  received  this  bite,  I  at  once  felt 
extreme  pain,  both  from  the  sensitiveness  of  the  part 
and  from  the  poison  ;  then  I  tied  the  finger  round  very 
tight,  above  the  wound,  to  make  the  blood  flow  and  to 
let  out  the  poison,  and  prevent  it  from  advancing  up  the 
arm.  Then  I  asked  for  some  old  theriac  ointment, 
which  1  moistened  with  eau-de-vie  in  the  hand  of  one  of 
de  Farges'  servants,  and  then  I  dipped  some  cotton  in 


Notes  to  Journeys  151 


the  mixture,  and  laid  it  to  the  bite  ;  and  in  a  few  days  I 
was  healed  without  any  further  trouble,  by  this  remedy 
alone." 


M.  Chapelain  :  Jean  Chapelain,  doctor  of  medicine 
of  Montpellier  and  Paris,  physician-in-ordinary 
to  Francois  I.,  premier  physician  to  Henri  II.  and 
Charles  IX.  To  him  was  dedicated  Park's  book  on 
Wounds  of  the  Head.  He  died  of  the  plague,  De- 
cember 5,  1569,  at  the  siege  of  Saint  Jean  d'Angely. 

M.  Castellan :  Honor6  Duchastel  (Castellanus), 
doctor  of  medicine  of  Montpellier,  afterward  pro- 
fessor, physician-in-ordinary  to  Henri  II.,  Frangois 
II.,  and  Charles  IX.,  and  premier  physician  to  the 
Queen-mother.  To  him  Par^  dedicated  his  book 
on  the  plague.  His  sister's  son  was  Andr6  du 
Laurens,  premier  physician  to  Henri  IV.  He  died 
in  the  same  house  as  Chapelain,  and  of  the  same 
epidemic,  November  4,  1569. 


8.    The  Battle  of  Saint  Denis.    1567. 

In  January,  1566,  Pare  was  with  the  Court  at  Mou- 
lins.  In  1567,  he  made  application  to  have  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  whole  body  of  "chirurgiens  jur^s  k 
Paris,"  and  was  refused. 

The  peace  of  Amboise  lasted  from  1563  to  1567. 


152  Ambroise  Pare 


The  murder  of  Guise  was  laid  to  the  charge  of  Co- 
hgny,  who  made  passionate  declaration  of  his  inno- 
cence, and  was  acquitted  on  oath  before  the  King 
and  his  Council,  in  January,  1556.  The  Queen- 
mother,  seeing  the  power  of  the  Guises  weakened, 
sought  to  redress  the  balance  of  forces  by  imposing 
fresh  disabilities  on  the  Huguenots.  In  June,  1567, 
when  Cond6  claimed  the  royal  promise,  given  in 
1563,  that  he  should  succeed  his  brother  the  King 
of  Navarre,  as  Lieutenant-General  of  France,  Cath- 
erine evaded  the  claim  ;  and  her  son  Henri  d'Anjou, 
afterward  Henri  HI.,  then  a  boy  of  sixteen,  repudi- 
ated it  with  such  scorn,  and  so  plainly  threatened 
war,  that  Conde  left  the  Court  and  joined  Coligny, 
dAndelot,  and  other  leaders  of  the  Huguenot  army  ; 
and  in  September,  1567,  the  second  war  of  religion 
broke  out. 

Forty  towns,  Orleans  and  Montpellier  among 
them,  opened  their  gates  to  the  Huguenot  troops, 
or  were  forced  to  open  them.  Conde  and  Coligny 
advanced  toward  Paris,  and  encamped  at  Saint 
Denis,  with  6000  men.  There  was  a  plot  to  seize 
the  person  of  the  young  King,  but  it  failed  :  negoti- 
ations also  were  tried,  but  came  to  nothing.  The 
Catholic  army,  no  less  than  20,000,  was  under  the 
command  of  the  Constable,  then  seventy-five  years 
old.     On  November  loth,  was  fought  the  battle  of 


Notes  to  Journeys  15, 


Saint  Denis;  the  Constable  had  disposed  his  troops 
badly,  and  was  himself  mortally  wounded.  The 
victory  rested  with  the  Catholics  :  but  when  Cond^ 
the  next  day  again  offered  battle,  they  dared  not 
accept  it.  Strengthened  by  an  enormous  reinforce- 
ment of  German  mercenaries,  the  Huguenot  army 
now  laid  siege  to  Chartres*;  the  Catholic  party, 
dispirited  by  the  death  of  the  Constable,  were  will- 
ing to  come  to  terms;  and  on  March  25,  1568, 
the  second  war  of  religion  was  ended  by  the  peace 
of  Longjumeau. 

Par^  was  kept  hard  at  work  within  the  walls  of 
Paris,  dressing  the  wounded  who  came  pouring 
in  from  Saint  Denis.  He  attended  the  Constable 
during  the  few  days  of  life  that  remained  to  him 
after  his  wound. 

The  Battle  of  Moncontour.    The  Journey 
TO  Flanders.     1569. 

In  1568,  Par6  published  his  book  on  the  Plague: 
certainly  the  most  admirable  and  vivid  of  all  his 
writings. 

The  peace  of  Longjumeau  lasted  only  six  months. 
Massacres  of  the  Huguenots  were  not  stopped  by 
it :  a  hundred  died  at  Amiens,  a  hundred  and  fifty 

*  For  the  whole  story  of  Chartres,  and  the  siege  of  it,  see  Mr. 
Pater's  Gaston  de  Latour, 


154  Ambroise  Par6 


at  Auxerre,  thirty  at  Fr^jus.  An  attempt  was  made 
to  sieze  Cond6  and  Coligny  at  Noyers:  they  escaped 
to  La  Rochelle,  where  Jeanne  dAlbret  joined  them, 
the  widowed  Queen  of  Navarre,  an  ardent  Huguenot ; 
with  her  son  Henri  de  Navarre,  afterward  Henri  IV. 
Help  was  obtained  from  the  German  Protestants, 
and  from  Ehzabeth  of  England  ;  and  in  August, 
1568,  began  the  third  war  of  religion.  On  March 
13,  1569,  came  the  battle  of  Jarnac  and  the  death 
of  Cond^ :  on  June  23d,  the  battle  of  Saint  Yrieux, 
with  some  advantage  on  the  side  of  the  Huguenots : 
in  September,  Coligny  was  forced  to  raise  the  siege 
of  Poitiers.  On  October  3d,  came  the  great  battle 
of  Moncontour;  the  victory  was  with  the  Catholics  ; 
Coligny  was  wounded,  and  his  army  lost  between 
5000  and  6000  men,  and  a  great  part  of  their 
baggage. 

Still  the  war  dragged  on  into  the  next  year  ;  by 
which  time  both  armies  were  exhausted.  In  vain 
Philip  offered  the  King  9000  men  to  help  him  to 
prolong  the  war :  in  vain  Pope  Pius  V.  wrote  to 
Catherine  that  there  could  be  no  communion  be- 
tween Satan  and  the  children  of  light.  Peace  was 
signed  at  Saint  Germain,  August  8,  15 70,  on  terms 
favourable  to  the  Huguenots,  and  was  confirmed  by 
the  marriage  of  the  King's  sister,  Marguerite  de 
Valois,  to  Henri  de  Navarre,  on   October  4th.     It 


Notes  to  Journeys  155 


was  a  time  of  marriages  :  the  King,  on  November 
26th,  was  married  to  the  Archduchess  Elizabeth 
of  Austria. 

With  the  peace  of  Saint  Germain  came  the  end  of 
Ambroise  Park's  work  in  the  army.  And  of  all  his 
yourneys  in  Diverse  Places,  surely  the  last  of  them, 
the  journey  to  Flanders,  is  just  the  one  which 
should  come  at  the  end  ;  it  shows  the  whole  work- 
ing of  his  mind,  the  whole  wealth  of  his  shrewdness, 
patience,  gentleness,  and  skill.  He  was  now  sixty 
years  old,  and  had  served  in  the  army,  off  and  on, 
for  thirty-three  years.  Francois  de  Guise,  Anne  de 
Montmorency,  the  King  of  Navarre,  Conde,  were  all 
gone.  One  heroic  soldier,  one  true  lover  of  France, 
was  yet  to  be  his  patient :  but  Ambroise  need  not 
leave  Paris  to  stand  at  the  bed-side  of  Coligny. 


Plessis-les-Tours  :  A  village,  i  kilom.  from  Tours. 

M.  dii  Bois  :  Guillaume  du  Bois,  surgeon-in-ordinary 
to  Henri  H.  He  was  one  of  those  who  received 
Par6  into  the  College  of  Surgeons  in  1554  :  and  was 
present  when  Pare  made  the  embalment  of  Charles 
IX.  He  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  great 
Jacques  du  Bois  (Sylvius)  Pare's  old  teacher. 

Monseigneur  lefr^re  du  Roy :  Henri,  Due  d'xA.njou, 
afterward  Henri  HI. 


156  Ambroise  Pare 


M.  de  Mansfeld :  Pierre  Ernest,  Comte  de  Mans- 
feld  :  he  married  a  sister  of  Francois  de  Bassompierre. 

M.  de  Montmorency :  Francois,  son  of  the  Con- 
stable: taken  prisoner  at  Theroiienne,  1553. 

M.  de  Rhingrave :  Jean  Philippe  de  Dauhn, 
Comte  de  Rhingrave,  eldest  son  of  Philippe  Fran- 
gois  de  Dauhn  :  born  1545. 

M.  de  Bassompierre :  Christophe,  son  of  Francois 
de  Bassompierre,  and  father  of  another  Francois 
who  was  a  Marshal  of  France. 

M.le Due d' Ascot :  Philippe,  Due  d'Arschot,  Prince 
de  Chimay,  Knight  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  Grandee  of 
Spain :  born  July  10,  1526  ;  married,  in  1559,  Jeanne 
Henriette,  DamedeHalluyn:  died  December  6,  1581. 

M.  le  Marquis  d'Auret :  Charles  Philippe  de  Croz, 
son  of  Philippe  de  Croz  and  of  Anne  de  Lorraine : 
born  September  i,  1549:  married  Diane,  widow  of 
M.  de  Rhingrave:  died  November  23,  1613.  He 
was  only  twenty  years  old  when  Par6  attended  him. 


^S<^(^fe)^)^ 


IV. 


PARIS. 


1541-1572. 

"  God  is  my  witness,  and  men  know  it  well,  I  have  worked  more 
than  forty  years  to  illumine  and  perfect  the  art  of  Surgery.  I  have 
been  so  prodigal  of  myself,  my  toil,  my  powers,  that  I  have  not 
spared  time,  working  night  and  day,  nor  money." — Fare's  dedication 
of  his  Works  to  the  King  :  first  edition,  1575. 

IT  is  certain  Pare  loved  peace,  and  loved  Paris. 
"  I  returned  to  Paris,"  he  says  again  and  again  ; 
thankful  to  get  back  to  his  wife  and  his  work  there, 
"  Truly  I  repented  to  have  left  Paris.  .  .  .  To 
speak  truth,  I  could  have  wished  myself  back  in 
Paris.  ...  I  was  very  glad  to  be  at  liberty,  out 
of  the  noise  of  the  artillery,  and  far  from  the  sol- 
diers." Turin,  Metz,  Hesdin,  La  F^re, — at  all  of 
them  he  worked  hard,  and  took  his  chance  of  death, 
even  of  torture ;  and  at  all  of  them  he  was  longing 
to  be  back  again  in  "  this  great  and  famous  city  of 
Paris." 

Now,  therefore,  his  Journeys  in   Diverse  Places 
157 


158  Ambroise  Pare 


must  be  set  aside,  and  he  must  give  an  account  of 
himself,  not  as  an  army  surgeon,  but  as  a  citizen  of 
no  mean  city,  bourgeois  de  Paris,  a  peaceful  gentle- 
man, whose  face  got  to  be  as  well  known  in  the 
streets  as  the  face  of  the  King  himself,  and  much 
more  welcome.  It  is  just  half  a  century,  from  1541, 
when  he  qualified  as  a  master  barber-surgeon,  to 
December,  1590,  when  he  died.  Half  a  century  of 
such  a  life  is  too  much  for  one  chapter :  and  it 
may  be  divided  at  the  Massacre  of  Saint  Bartholo- 
mew's Day,  August  24,  1572.  The  blood  then 
shed  in  Paris  was  but  a  small  quantity  in  comparison 
with  the  whole  flood  poured  out  over  France  in  the 
persecutions,  and  in  the  wars  of  religion  ;  yet  for  its 
place  in  history,  and  for  the  mark  it  left  on  Paris, 
this  one  of  many  massacres  of  the  Huguenots  is  a 
good  dividing-point  of  Fare's  hfe.  He  himself  was 
in  the  midst  of  it :  and  it  nearly  coincides  with  that 
other  break  in  his  life,  the  death  of  Jehanne  Mazelin, 
in  1573.  So  this  chapter  tells  the  story  of  the  years 
1 541-1572:  from  the  time  he  became  qualified  to 
practice,  to  the  day  he  stood  by  the  bed-side  of 
his  old  friend  Coligny,  and  heard  Coligny's  murderers 
come  howling  round  the  house. 

Starting  in  Practice. 
In  1 54 1,  Ambroise  Pare  had  come  back  from  his 
first  sight  of  war,  had  dined  with  Sylvius,  had  told 


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Paris  159 

him  how  hot  oil  was  not  good  for  gunshot  wounds, 
and  had  been  urged  by  Sylvius  to  write  a  book  on 
the  subject.*  He  was  thirty-one  years  old,  qualified, 
and  without  a  wife  :  and  he  lived  at  the  end  of  the 
Pont  Saint-Michel,  not  far  from  his  old  hospital,  in 
the  parish  of  Saint  Andr6  des  Arcs. 

His  lodging  was  at  one  corner  of  a  little  open 
place,  called  Place  Saint  Michel  Archange  :  on  the 
ground  floor  of  a  little  house  running  far  back.  He 
had  two  fair-sized  rooms,  with  the  staircase  between 
them  ;  and  being  on  the  ground  floor  he  had  to  open 
the  door  for  any  belated  fellow-lodger  or  strayed 
reveller.  At  the  back  of  the  house  was  a  cold,  dark 
little  courtyard,  with  kitchen  and  woodshed. f     The 

*  The  book  was  published  in  1545.  A  copy  of  it  (i 551  edition) 
presented  to  the  King,  or  to  Diane  de  Poitiers,  is,  or  was  ten  years 
ago,  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Quaritch.  See  Quaritch's  General 
Catalogue,  1887,  vol.  ii.,  p.  1234  :  n°  12876.  "Pare  (Ambroise)  La 
Maniere  de  Traicter  les  Playes  faictes  tat  par  hacquebutes  que  par 
fleches  ,  .  .  sm.  8vo.  {\2mo) printed  ott  vellum,  with  numerous 
initials  and  woodcuts  of  surgical  instruments  and  their  uses,  all 
richly  painted  and  illuminated,  the  presentation  copy  to  Diane  de 
Poitiers  in  the  original  calf-binding  repaired,  with  a  grand  geometrical 
or  architectonic  pattern  in  gold  on  the  sides,  the  back  covered  with 
gilt  tooling,  unique,  in  an  olive  morocco  case,  ;^300.  Paris,  1551. 
There  is  no  mark  on  the  binding,  except  its  beauty  and  its  age,  that 
indicates  possession  by  the  famous  Diane  :  but  in  cadres  within  the 
illuminated  border  of  the  title-page,  the  three  crescents  and  the 
interlacing  H  and  QD  are  wrought  in  silver  upon  a  blue  ground  ; 
and  the  style  of  the  ornament  is  that  usually  adopted  by  her  binder. 
This  unique  vellum  copy  is  the  dedication-copy  to  Henri  II." 

f  M.   Emile  Begin  gives  these  details  :    on  the  authority  of  the 


i6o  Ambroise  Pare 


streets  round  the  house  were  crowded,  crooked,  and 
only  five  or  six  feet  across  :  the  river,  without  quay 
or  parapet,  and  the  sewers,  kept  everything  damp 
and  muddy.  But  the  place  was  convenient  for 
work,  near  the  H6tel  Dieu  and  the  lecture-rooms : 
perhaps  also  he  had  in  view  the  chances  of  practice, 
for  the  Pr6-aux-clercs,  near  the  house,  was  often  the 
scene  of  duels  :  and  fighting  in  the  streets  was  com- 
mon, with  ten  or  twelve  thousand  students  of  differ- 
ent nationalities  in  Paris. 

He  was  neither  so  poor  nor  so  hopeless  but  that 
he  should  fall  in  love ;  and  within  a  few  months  of 
his  being  qualified,  he  was  married,  at  his  parish 
church  of  Saint  Andr6  des  Arcs. 

The  marriage  contract  was  signed  on  June  30,  I54i- 
His  wife's  name  was  Jehanne  Mazelin,  daughter  of 
Jehan  Mazelin,  "valet  chauffe-cire  de  la  Chancellerie 

"  Archives  d'  Aiitoine  Louis,  ancien  secretaire  perpetuel  de  I'Aca- 
demie  de  Chirurgie  :  liasse  intitulee,  Notes  sur  Ambroise  Pare  (de 
la  main  d'  Antoine  Louis).  IvCS  notes,  recueillies  toutes  (1757)  sur 
des  papiers  authentiques  et  inedits,  sout  de  deux  mains  differentes, 
tres-lisibles.  Malheureusement  les  copistes,  lettres  d'  ailleurs,  ne 
connaissaient  ni  la  langue  du  xvi™*  siecle,  ni  ses  signes  abreviatifs  ou 
conventionels,  source  d'erreurs  inevitables."  But  there  is  a  most 
suspicious  completeness  about  the  Pare  documents  that  M.  Begin 
discovered  at  Metz  :  they  are  so  exactly  what  one  would  wish  to  dis- 
cover. A  journal  of  122  pages,  in  Pare's  own  hand  ;  a  long  letter  of 
good  advice  to  his  nephew  Bertiand  ;  and  his  last  will  and  testament. 
M.  Turner  does  not  admit  any  hope  that  they  were  genuine  :  "  au- 
jourd'hui  on  peut  afifiirmer  hardiment  que  ces  documents  sont  sans 
aucune  valeur." 


Paris  i6i 

de  France  " — -famulus  domini  cancellarii  Francice — a 
servant  of  the  great  Antoine  Du  Prat,  Chancellor  of 
Frangois  I.;  who  rose  to  great  political  power  during 
the  King's  captivity  at  Madrid  after  the  battle  of 
Pavia(i525),  was  Archbishop  of  Sens,  and  a  Cardinal, 
and  is  said,  when  Pope  Clement  VII.  died  (1533),  to 
have  made  an  offer  of  four  hundred  thousand  crowns 
for  the  Papacy.  Antoine  Du  Prat  died  in  1535  :  the 
King  laid  hands  on  his  property  ;  and  perhaps  Je- 
hanne's  father  was  ruined  in  the  general  crash.  Any- 
how, Jehan  Mazelin  died  before  Jehanne  and  Am- 
broise  were  made  man  and  wife ;  leaving  behind  him 
Jehanne,  a  younger  daughter  named  Madeline,  a  son 
named  Antoine,  and  other  children :  and  his  widow 
was  married  again,  this  time  to  Estienne  Cleret, 
a  shopkeeper  in  the  Rue  Saint  Andr^  des  Arcs. 
Jehanne  was  living  with  her  stepfather,  and  was 
about  twenty  years  old.  What,  beside  proximity, 
drew  Jehanne  and  Ambroise  together,  we  do  not 
know  :  but  it  was  not  money.  This  fact  is  proved 
by  their  marriage  contract,  published  by  Le  Paul- 
mier  from  the  old  family  papers  at  Chateau  Paley, 
in  the  possession  of  Mdme.  la  Marquise  Le  Charron  : 

"  Before  Jehan  Dupre  and  Remon  d'Orleans,  His 
Majesty's  Notaries  of  the  Chatelet,  were  present  in 
person  Estienne  Cleret,  salesman,  citizen  of  Paris,  and 
Jehanne  de  Prime  his  wife  ;  aforetime  wife,  by  her  first 


1 62  Ambroise  Par^ 


marriage,  of  the  late  Jehan  Mazelin,  .  .  .  and  Je- 
hanne  Mazelin,  daughter  of  the  said  deceased  Jehan 
Mazelin  and  the  said  Jehanne  de  Prime,  .  ,  .  and 
Ambroise  Pare,  master  barber-surgeon  in  this  city  of 
Paris  .  .  .  the  which  parties,  of  their  free  desire  and 
good  will  without  constraint  have  agreed  and  promised, 
in  the  presence  of  and  before  the  said  Notaries,  as  in 
right  judgment  and  moreover  in  the  presence  and  by  the 
advice,  council,  and  deliberation  of  Marguerite  Choisel, 
widow  of  the  late  Odo  de  Prime,  in  his  lifetime  also 
master  barber-surgeon  of  Paris,  relations  on  the  mother's 
side  of  the  said  Jehanne  Mazelin,  and  M.6vy  de  Prime, 
salesman  and  citizen  of  Paris,  her  uncle  on  the  mother's 
side,  and  Estienne  de  la  Riviere  and  Loys  Drouet,  also 
master  barber-surgeons  in  Paris,  friends  of  the  said 
Ambroise  Pare,  to  make,  and  by  these  presents  have 
made  and  make  together  the  treaty,  accords,  promises, 
and  arrangements  which  follow,  for  the  marriage  which 
at  God's  pleasure  will  soon  be  made  and  solemnized 
before  Holy  Church,  of  the  said  Ambroise  Pare  and  the 
said  Jehanne  Mazelin  :  that  is  to  say  the  said  Estienne 
Cleret  and  his  wife  have  promised  and  promise  to  be- 
stow and  give  in  law  of  marriage  the  said  Jehanne  Maze- 
lin free  and  quit  of  all  debts  and  liabilities  whatsoever  to 
the  said  Ambroise  Par6,  who  has  promised  and  promises 
to  take  her  to  wife  and  spouse,  so  quickly  as  he  well 
shall  be  able  to  do  it,  if  God  and  Holy  Church  allow 
it.     .     .     ." 

Thus  the  notaries  ramble  on,  illustrating  the  per- 
petual contrast  between  law  and  medicine.  M^ry 
de  Prime,  Estienne  de  la  Riviere,  and  Loys  Drouet, 


Paris  163 

come  again  into  Park's  life:  his  friends  rose  with 
him,  and  kept  near  him.  Jehanne  brought  Am- 
broise  six  hundred  livres  tournois,  and  her  clothes : 
Ambroise  settled  on  Jehanne  two  hundred  livres 
tournois.  If  he  died,  she  was  to  keep  all  her  clothes, 
rings,  and  trinkets  then  in  actual  use  :  if  she  died, 
he  was  to  keep  his  clothes,  rings,  and  surgical  instru- 
ments. They  gave  up  all  her  rights  of  succession, 
and  all  further  claim  on  Estienne  Cleret.  The  six 
hundred  livres  tournois  were  paid  over  to  them  on 
July  i6th.  The  wedding-day  came  afterward  :  for  in 
the  receipt  for  the  money,  Jehanne  is  not  called 
"sa  femme"  but  "sa  fiencee  en  Saincte  Eglise." 

Man  and  Wife. 

Two  years  after  their  marriage,  on  October  21, 
1543,  they  signed  a  "mutual  donation"  of  all  that 
they  had.  Ambroise's  life  was  never  safe  at  the  wars : 
they  would  make  a  simpler  arrangement  of  things : 
on  the  death  of  one  of  them,  the  other  was  to  have 
everything,  and  to  pay  twenty  crowns  to  the  bereaved 
family.     At  this  time,  they  had  no  children. 

Their  first  child,  Frangois,  was  baptised  at  Saint 
Andre,  July  4,  1545:  the  godfathers  were  Francois 
de  Villeneuve,  physician,  and  Loys  Drouet  or  Duret, 
barber ;  the  godmother  was  Jehanne  de  Prime. 
Unhappily  for  Ambroise  and  his  wife,  the  child  died 


164  Ambroise  Pare 


in  a  few  months ;  and  for  fourteen  years  there  is  no 
word  of  another.  Then,  in  1559,  was  born  a  son, 
rightly  named  Isaac,  baptised  at  Saint  Andre  on 
August  nth:  the  godfathers  were  Antoine  Mazelin, 
his  uncle,  and  Nicole  Lambert,  surgeon-in-ordinary 
to  the  King ;  the  godmother  was  Anne  du  Tillet, 
wife  of  Estienne  Lallemant,  Seigneur  de  Vouzay. 
This  child  also  died,  and  was  buried  on  August  2, 
1560.  Then  a  daughter  was  born  to  them,  named 
Catherine  ;  baptised  at  Saint  Anc^  3n 'September  30, 
1560:  Gaspard  Martin,  Fare's  brother-in-law,  was 
godfather,  and  the  godmothers  were  Catherine,  wife 
of  Loys  de  Prime,  Marguerite,  whom  Estienne 
Claret  married  after  the  death  of  Jehanne  Mazelin's 
mother,  and  Jehanne  de  Prime. 

Thus  Ambroise  was  more  than  fifty  years  old  before 
he  had  a  child  of  his  own  old  enough  to  talk  to  him, 
and  he  never  had  a  son  to  follow  him ;  and  Jehanne 
remained  childless  for  near  fifteen  years,  with  her 
husband  away  at  the  wars,  and  her  one  baby  buried 
in  the  parish  church.  Catherine  alone  remained  to 
them ;  and  she  was  thirteen  years  old  when  her 
mother  died  in  1573. 

To  console  themselves,  they  helped  other  people's 
children.  In  July,  1559,  Ambroise  settled  fifteen 
livres  tournois  yearly  on  Olive  Arnoullet,  six  or  seven 
years  old,  daughter  of  a  doctor  practising  near  Eper- 


Paris  165 

nay.  If  she  died,  the  annuity  was  to  go  to  her 
brother  Christopher,  or  to  the  other  children.  In 
October,  1565,  having  received  from  the  King  the 
effects  of  one  Jehan  Gaultier,  Ambroise  handed  them 
over  to  the  dead  man's  brother,  Claude  Gaultier,  a 
wool-carder  of  Carpentras  near  Avignon,  "  a  poor 
blind  man  aged  sixty  years  and  more,  burdened  with 
four  children."  But  the  charity  of  Ambroise  and 
Jehanne  began  at  home,  with  their  nephew  Bertrand 
and  their  niece  Jehanne. 

Bertrand  Pare  was  the  son  of  Ambroise's  brother 
Jehan,  the  master  barber-surgeon  at  Vitr6  in  Brittany, 
who  died  some  time  before  1 549 ;  and  Bertrand  was 
to  come  to  Paris  to  learn  his  father's  business.  In 
August,  1549,  Ambroise  and  Jehanne  arranged  that 
at  their  death,  if  they  died  childless,  as  they  then 
were,  Bertrand  should  have  an  annuity  of  forty  livres 
tournois,  payable  also  to  his  heirs  after  him.  Ambroise 
took  the  young  man  in  hand,  entered  him  as  a  stu- 
dent under  the  rules  of  the  confraternity  of  Saint 
Cosmo,  and  apprenticed  him  to  an  apothecary,  Jehan 
de  Saint  Germain.  The  young  man  was  idle,  con- 
ceited, and  a  failure. 

Jehanne  Pare  was  the  daughter  of  Ambroise's 
other  brother  Jehan,  the  chest-maker  in  the  Rue  de 
la  Huchette,  by  his  second  wife,  Marie  de  Neufville. 
She  was  six   or   seven  years  old    when  her  father 


1 66  Ambroise  Pare 


died,  some  time  before  1560;  and  that  same  year 
Ambroise  and  his  wife  gave  her  a  dowry  of  five  hun- 
dred Itvres  tournois,  to  be  paid  to  her  when  she  was 
either  married  or  settled.  She  became  both  married 
and  settled  ;  but  this  was  after  Jehanne  Mazelin's 
death,  and  therefore  belongs  to  the  next  chapter. 

The  "  Royal  College  of  Surgeons." 

Though  a  great  surgeon,  holding  one  court  appoint- 
ment after  another,  may  yet  keep  outside  politics, 
and  indifferent  to  the  rise  or  fall  of  those  in  high 
places,  he  cannot  escape  the  politics  of  his  own  pro- 
fession; and  it  was  impossible  for  Ambroise  Par6  to 
stand  apart  from  the  perpetual  strife  between  the 
physicians,  the  surgeons,  and  the  barber-surgeons. 

The  corporation  of  barber-surgeons  represented  the 
barber-surgeons,  the  confraternity  of  Saint  Cosmo  rep- 
resented the  surgeons,  and  the  faculty  of  medicine  rep- 
resented the  physicians :  and  these  three  bodies  were 
engaged  in  a  sort  of  triangular  duel.  Malgaigne  gives 
the  whole  history  of  it,  in  all  its  phases,  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  France ;  but  here  we  are 
concerned  with  it  only  so  far  as  it  affected  Ambroise 
Par6.  From  1541  to  1554,  he  was  a  barber-surgeon; 
in  1554,  he  was  admitted  to  the  confraternity  of  Saint 
Cosmo,  then  calling  itself,  as  it  were  for  that  occasion 
only,  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons;  in  1567,  he 


Paris  167 

asked  to  receive  supremacy  and  jurisdiction  over  the 
confraternity,  and  the  faculty  successfully  opposed 
his  petition.  In  1569,  came  his  controversy  with 
Julien  Le  Paulmier,  one  of  the  faculty;  and  in  1575, 
when  he  published  the  first  edition  of  his  collected 
works,  he  began  that  long  conflict  with  the  faculty 
which  lasted  almost  to  his  death  in  1590. 

In  a  triangular  fight  between  three  institutions  all 
of  venerable  antiquity,  there  must  needs  be  many 
lesser  skirmishes  and  side-issues.  Something  has 
been  said  already  about  the  barber-surgeons ;  the 
physicians,  and  their  warfare  with  Par6,  belong  to 
the  later  years  of  his  life.  Between  the  barber- 
surgeons  and  the  physicians,  and  as  it  were 
trampling  on  the  barber-surgeons  to  get  at  the  physi- 
cians, comes  that  vigorous  and  discontented  body  of 
men,  the  confraternity  of  Saint  Cosmo,  or  College  of 
Surgeons  of  France. 

The  patron  saints  of  the  confraternity,  Saint  Cosmo 
and  Saint  Damien,  who  were  also  the  saints  of  the 
barber-surgeons,  were  two  brothers,  physicians,  born 
in  Arabia  in  the  third  century,  and  put  to  death  for 
the  Christian  faith.  The  confraternity  was  founded 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  afterward  claimed  Saint 
Louis  as  its  founder.  In  1 3 1 1 ,  the  members  received 
for  their  head  Jehan  Pitard  ;  in  1372,  they  got  a 
charter  from  the  King.     About  the  year  1400,  medi- 


1 68  Ambroise  Pare 


aeval  Paris  had  within  her  walls  thirty-one  physicians 
of  the  faculty,  ten  master-surgeons  of  the  confra- 
ternity, and  about  fifty  barber-surgeons  ;  theic  con- 
flicts were  on  a  small  scale,  but  perpetual.  In  1423, 
the  surgeons  obtained  an  order  that  none  should 
practise  surgery  but  themselves  ;  next  year,  the  bar- 
ber-surgeons got  their  own  privileges  confirmed,  and 
the  order  was  set  aside  ;  then  the  surgeons  appealed, 
but  without  success.  On  September  28,  1424,  the 
surgeons  took  an  oath  not  to  see  any  patient  with 
a  barber-surgeon  more  than  once,  or  at  the  most  for 
two  visits  only  ;  and  raised  a  special  fund  for  fighting 
expenses.  In  1436,  they  appealed  for  admission  to 
the  privileges  of  the  university  ;  for  these,  they  had 
to  pay  a  heavy  price ;  they  must  attend  lectures  on 
surgery  given  by  the  physicians  of  the  faculty.  In 
1438,  the  barber-surgeons  got  their  privileges  re- 
newed ;  later,  came  Ollivier  le  Dain,  barber-surgeon 
of  Louis  XL,  who  had  the  King's  ear  ;  and,  by  this 
time,  the  three  opposing  forces  of  the  profession  were 
so  nearly  balanced  that  for  many  years  there  was 
something  like  peace. 

In  1470,  fresh  troubles  arose  over  one  Jehan  Le 
Roy,  "  operator  for  the  stone,  cataract,  and  incisions," 
who  obtained  from  Louis  XL  a  command  that  he 
should  be  examined  and  received  into  the  confra- 
ternity.    The  surgeons  declared  that  the  Royal  order 


Paris  169 

was  "  obreptice,  subreptice,  incivile  et  deraisonnable ;" 
and  they  consoled  themselves  by  compelling  this  un- 
invited guest  to  drop  his  title,  and  by  passing  a  reso- 
lution that  any  such  "  incisor,"  once  examined  and 
approved  by  the  confraternity,  should  pay  them  a 
sum  of  money  for  every  operation  he  did  in  Paris. 

Unhappy  confraternity  ;  they  had,  in  the  common 
phrase,  jumped  out  of  the  frying-pan  into  the  fire. 
They  found  all  surgical  practice  drifting  away  from 
them  ;  the  barber-surgeons  took  all  the  minor  sur- 
gery, such  as  venesection;  and  the  "incisors"  came 
into  repute  for  all  the  special  operations.  And  then 
the  confraternity,  thus  left  without  practice,  began 
to  busy  themselves  over  the  invention  of  medical 
treatment  for  the  cure  of  surgical  diseases  ;  and  forth- 
with they  came  into  violent  collision  with  that  very 
heavy  body,  the  faculty  of  physicians. 

In  the  year  1491,  the  faculty  had  started  a  course 
of  anatomy  lectures  for  the  apprentices  of  the  barber- 
surgeons  ;  and  these  lectures  had  been  given,  to  the 
great  credit  of  the  faculty,  not  in  Latin  but  in  French. 
The  confraternity  opposed  themselves  to  this  vulgar 
way  of  teaching  ;  and  the  faculty  yielded  to  this  ex- 
tent, that  the  lectures  were  to  consist  of  a  reading, 
in  Latin,  from  Guy  de  Chauliac  or  some  such  author, 
followed  by  an  exposition  of  him  in  French.  To 
avenge  themselves  on  the  confraternity,  the  faculty 


170  Ambroise  Pard 


made  a  daring  raid  on  surgical  territory  :  they  began 
giving  anatomical  demonstrations  on  the  dead  body. 
This  brought  another  furious  protest  from  the  con- 
fraternity ;  to  whom  the  faculty  answered  that  the 
physicians  would  continue  to  teach  anatomy  until 
the  surgeons  left  off  writing  prescriptions.  In  1498, 
the  faculty  started  the  demonstrations  again.  In 
1502,  the  confraternity  said  that  the  faculty  might 
give  the  demonstrations,  provided  only  that  the  pre- 
liminary dissections  for  them  were  made  by  surgeons 
of  the  confraternity ;  and  the  faculty  answered  that 
if  the  confraternity  wanted  a  share  of  the  honour  and 
glory  of  the  demonstrations,  they  must  pay  a  third 
of  the  expenses  of  them. 

The  confraternity  was  now  fairly  caught  between 
the  upper  and  the  nether  millstones,  between  the 
physicians  and  the  barber-surgeons.  In  1505,  the 
barber-surgeons  began  to  grind  them,  slowly,  but 
exceeding  small.  The  barber-surgeons  had  hitherto 
been  called  barbers ;  now  they  changed  the  name  of 
their  corporation,  and,  as  barber-surgeons,  received 
new  privileges  from  the  Crown :  an  oath,  a  register, 
a  registration-fee.  The  faculty  had  a  hand  in  the 
examination  of  the  barber-surgeons'  apprentices  ;  the 
candidates  swore  to  limit  themselves  to  manual  sur- 
gery, and  to  abstain  from  prescribing  so  much  as  a 
laxative  :  where  drugs  were  wanted,  they  would  call 


Paris  171 

in  a  physician  of  the  faculty,  and  nobody  else.  In 
return,  the  faculty  continued  their  valuable  lectures 
to  the  apprentices,  and  made  themselves  into  a  sort 
of  "  Medical  Defence  Union  "  to  protect,  at  the  cost 
of  the  injured  party,  any  master  barber-surgeon  who 
might  get  into  trouble  in  the  exercise  of  his  art. 

That  same  year,  1505,  came  fresh  quarrelling  with 
the  surgeons,  because  the  faculty  had  examined  one 
Jacques  Bourlon,  and  had  given  him  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Surgery,  without  the  approval  of  the  con- 
fraternity. In  1507,  four  surgeons  of  the  confra- 
ternity were  summoned  before  the  faculty  for  the 
offence  of  prescribing;  and  had  to  swear  on  the  Gos- 
pels that  they  would  not  so  ofTend  again.  In  1509, 
a  barber-surgeon,  one  I'Ecolier,  had  ventured  to  do 
certain  major  operations;  the  confraternity  brought 
an  action  against  him  ;  the  faculty  defended  him. 
Then  the  faculty  scored  one  more  point :  the  phys- 
icians'lectures  were  declared  compulsory;  no  surgeon 
was  to  obtain  his  Master's  degree  who  had  not  been, 
in  modern  phrase,  "  signed  up  "  for  them.  And  then, 
at  last,  came  a  long  spell  of  peace. 

I  have  tried  to  show,  chiefly  from  Malgaigne's 
wealth  of  details,  the  perpetual  wranglings  of  all  three 
guardians  of  the  peace  and  honour  of  the  profession. 
There  is  nothing  heroic  about  the  confraternity. 
Take  two  of  their  rules,  made  in  147 1.     The  first  of 


172  Ambroise  Pare 


them  refers  to  the  custom  of  visiting,  once  a  month, 
a  crowd  of  poor  patients  at  the  doors  of  the  church  of 
Saint  Cosmo,  at  Luzarches. 

1.  Those  who  shall  not  go  to  Luzarches  during 
the  octave  of  SS.  Cosmo  and  Damien  shall  pay  the 
same  as  those  who  go,  without  excuse  even  for  the 
sick. 

2.  Every  master,  who  has  become  licentiate  at 
Paris,  but  lives  outside  Paris,  is  bound  to  preside  in 
his  turn  at  the  meetings  of  the  confraternity ;  and 
the  day  he  is  president  he  must  pay  for  bread,  wine, 
and  amusement  after  vespers,  and  for  the  fare  next 
morning,  mutton  and  salt  meats  and  pies,  or  fish  if  it 
be  a  fast-day.     .     .     . 

Rules,  as  Malgaigne  says,  worthy  of  a  harmony 
club. 

Nevertheless,  to  be  a  Master  of  Surgery,  "  chirur- 
gien  jure  k  Paris  "  was  to  take  social  rank  above  the 
barber-surgeons,  and  not  far  below  the  faculty  ; 
and  Ambroise  Pare  was  too  wise  to  ignore  this  fact. 
The  confraternity,  on  their  side,  were  eager  to 
receive  into  their  number  the  coming  man,  the  King's 
friend,  to  withdraw  him  from  the  ranks  of  the  bar- 
ber-surgeons, and  set  him  to  fight  their  battles  with 
the  physicians. 

It  was  in  1554,  when  Pare  was  forty-four  years  old, 
two  years  after  his  appointment  to  the  King,  that  he 


Paris  1 73 

was  received  into  the  confraternity.  The  surgeons 
were  so  glad  to  have  him  that  the  proceedings  were 
somewhat  irregular.  To  get  him  without  delay,  the 
ordinary  time  and  place  of  meeting  were  changed  ; 
and  those  to  whom  he  had  to  make  formal  application 
for  admission  were  chosen  from  among  his  friends. 
Reapplied  on  August  i8th  for  leave  to  pass  the  pre- 
liminary examination  ;  it  was  granted.  His  application 
was  irregular ;  but  then  he  was  a  man  busy  at  the 
Court :  "  pluribus  et  multis  negotiis  aulicis  detentus." 
He  was  examined  on  the  23d,  in  an  informal  way,  at 
the  house  of  the  senior  examiner,  and  declared  fit  to 
be  examined  for  the  degree  of  Bachelor.  This  second 
examination  was  at  the  Hotel  Dieu,  on  the  27th  ; 
there  were  four  examiners,  and  to  keep  up  appear- 
ances they  solemnly  ploughed  him.  He  gave  feeble 
answers,  most  inelegantly  worded  :  "  questionibus  et 
chirurgicis  problematibus  illi  objectis,  debiliter  et 
sermone  satis  barbaro  etcorrupto  respondit."  Then 
they  found  extenuating  circumstances,  let  Estienne 
de  La  Riviere  make  them  an  appeal  on  his  behalf, 
told  him  he  must  learn  more  Latin  and  more  surgery, 
and  must  make  a  more  regular  and  formal  application 
for  the  higher  degrees ;  and  forthwith  gave  him  the 
degree  of  Bachelor. 

On  October  ist,  he  asked  to  be  examined  for  the 
degree  of  Licentiate :  a  week  later  he  was  examined, 


174  Ambroise  Pare 


sustained  a  disputation,  and,  "  since  the  King  wished 
it,"  was  made  Licentiate. 

On  November  5th,  the  whole  confraternity  unani- 
mously agreed  to  give  him  the  degree  of  Master. 
On  December  17th,  it  was  conferred  on  him.  There 
was  a  solemn  function  in  their  church ;  the  faculty 
was  duly  represented  ;  bishops,  seigneurs,  and  other 
great  people  were  present.  He  had  to  read  a  Latin 
thesis,  he  who  had  never  learned  Latin :  we  know 
neither  the  subject  nor  the  author  of  it.  Next  day 
he  was  presented  to  the  Provost  of  the  confraternity, 
received  his  "  lettres  de  maitrise,"  and  took  the  oath : 
"  Ego  Ambrosius  Par^  chirurgus  regius  et  juratus 
Parisiis,  polliceor  me  sancte  observaturum  omnia  col- 
legii  Chirurgorum  statuta,  meque  antequadriennium 
non  suscepturum  jurisdictionis  officium  nisi  a  prae- 
dicto  coUegio  dispensatum.  Actum  die  xviii  De- 
cembris,  et  anno  Domini  1554.  Teste  meo  signo  hie 
afifixo.  A.  Par6." 

The  faculty  derided  the  whole  affair;  and  raked 
up  the  irregularities  of  it  when  Par6  came  to  fight 
with  them.  Here  is  what  Riolan  said  of  it,  twenty- 
three  years  later : 

"  The  surgeon  is  to  the  physician  what  the  dentist  is 
to  the  surgeon.  .  .  .  Among  surgeons  who  are  ex- 
cellent in  practice,  there  are  some  (everybody  knows 
whom  I  mean,  without  my  having  to  name  them)  who 


Paris  1 75 

cannot  decline  their  own  names.  We  have  seen  them 
called  from  the  barber's  shop  to  be  Masters  of  Surgery, 
and  admitted  gratis  against  the  rules,  for  fear  the  barbers, 
their  superior  skill  being  recognised,  should  put  the 
college  to  shame  :  we  have  heard  them  declaiming,  in  the 
prettiest  way  in  the  world,  the  Latin  that  someone  else 
had  breathed  into  them,  and  no  more  understanding 
what  they  said  than  school  children  set  to  repeat  Greek 
speeches."     ... 

Riolan  is  in  the  right :  the  admission  of  Par6  to 
the  confraternity  was  what  .^chylus,  long  before 
modern  slang  was  invented,  called  a  "  plant."  But  if 
it  did  Par^  any  good,  or  gave  him  any  pleasure,  that 
is  reason  enough  to  justify  it. 

Pake's  Houses  in  Paris  and  Outside  it. 

Ambroise  Par^  was  a  good  man  of  business,  and 
the  story  of  his  property  in  Paris  proves  more  than 
this :  it  shows  he  had  a  mind  ever  at  rest  in  the  same 
surroundings,  the  "genius  loci,"  a  delight  in  home, 
in  having  his  own  people  close  to  him.  Most  of  us 
move  house  once,  or  more  than  once ;  Par^  was  bet- 
ter pleased  to  stop  in  one  place,  and  buy  the  houses 
next  to  his  own,  till  at  last  he  had  a  compact  block 
of  property,  a  little  phalanx  of  adjoining  houses, 
side  by  side,  or  back  to  back,  all  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  Saint  Andr6  des  Arcs. 

He  made  his  first  bargain  in  September,  1550 — the 


176  Ambrolse  Pare 


Maison  de  La  Vache,  in  the  Rue  de  L'Hirondelle, 
and  the  house  at  Meudon.*  He  held  the  property  in 
part  only ;  and  got  his  share  of  it,  a  fourth,  in  ex- 
change for  a  bad  debt.  Antoine  Mazelin,  Jehanne's 
brother,  had  owed  him,  for  four  and  a  half  years, 
eighty  gold  crowns ;  and  now  Ambroise  sold  up  his 
brother-in-law.  Ambroise  was  not  the  only  creditor, 
and  it  seems  to  have  been  a  family  affair,  without 
any  ill-will  about  it ;  for  we  find  Antoine,  nine  years 
later,  not  only  afloat  as  a  government  clerk,  but 
standing  godfather  to  Isaac  Pare.  The  four  hold- 
ers of  the  two  houses  were  Ambroise,  Jehanne, 
Catherine  de  Prime,  wife  of  Pierre  de  La  Rue,  and 
the  wife  of  Charles  Fournier.  These  two  last  were 
both  of  them  Jehanne's  relations ;  the  whole  thing 
was  arranged  eyi  fmnille.  Pierre  de  La  Rue  lived 
close  by  ;  he  was  a  master-tailor  ;  we  shall  hear  of 
him  again,  and  that  not  to  his  credit. 

The  house  in  the  Rue  de  L'Hirondelle  took  its 
name  from  the  sign  of  a  cow  hanging  from  it.  There 
v/ere  living-rooms,  cellar,  a  little  room  in  the  base- 
ment, upper  rooms,  loft,  and  a  courtyard  at  the  back 
with  two  outhouses  ;  the  whole  building  was  roofed 
with  tiles.  In  front  was  the  Rue  de  L'Hirondelle; 
to  the  left,  M^ry  de  Prime,  wine-seller  ;  to  the  right, 

*  Rabelais  was  made  cure  of  Meudon  about  four  months  later  ; 
January  18,  1551. 


Paris 


177 


Ambroise  Park's  Houses  at  the  Pont  Saint-Michel. 
(Adapted  from  Le  Paulmier.) 


Maison  de  La  Vache,  with  courtyard  behind  it. 

Maison  des  Trois  Maures,  with  courtyard  behind  it,  extending 
down  to  the  river. 

The  Viarts'  house. 

The  Gueaux. 

The  Periers. 

Mery  de  Prime. 

Fran5ois  Pichonnat. 
8.     Charles  de  Paris. 

The  houses  shaded  are  Ambroise's.     The  Rue  des  Augustins  is 
now  the  Quai  des  Grands  Augustins. 


178  Ambrolse  Pard 


the  Maison  des  Trois  Maures,  belonging  to  the  heirs 
of  the  late  Jehan  Mestreau. 

The  house  at  Meudon  was  in  the  Rue  des  Pierres, 
at  the  back  of  the  church  ;  and  Le  Paulmier  thinks 
he  has  identified  No.  9  as  the  very  house.  It  had 
living-rooms  front  and  back,  cellar,  upper  room, 
lofts,  small  rooms,  courtyard  and  garden  between 
the  living-rooms,  with  a  well  and  a  little  tiled  out- 
house ;  and  a  garden  at  the  back,  with  trees  and  ar- 
bours. In  front,  was  the  Rue  des  Pierres  ;  the  next- 
door  neighbours  were  Jehan  Berthelmy,  Jehan 
Lucas,  and  Guillaume  Parvys.  In  the  same  lot  with 
the  house  at  Meudon  were  included  ten  vineyards, 
and  a  small  piece  of  land.  Happy  age,  when  one 
could  get  the  fourth  part  of  two  houses,  with  gar- 
dens and  vineyards,  in  exchange  for  a  brother-in- 
law's  bad  debt  of  eighty  gold  crowns. 

A  few  years  later,  Ambroise  bought  the  Maison 
des  Trois  Maures,  the  house  next  on  the  right  to 
the  Maison  de  La  Vache :  in  1561,  he  was  Hving  in 
this  new  house  :  and  in  it  he  died.  Behind  it,  was  a 
large  open  space,  opening  on  to  the  Rue  des  Augus- 
tins,  now  the  Quai  des  Grands  Augustins :  part  of 
this  space  was  occupied  by  a  narrow  slip  of  a  house, 
also  Ambroise's  property,  where  lived  Francois 
P6rier,  brother-in-law  of  Jehan  Par6 :  another  part 
of  it  Ambroise  gave  to  Guillaume  Gu^au  and  his 


Paris  1 79 

wife,  "pour  la  bonne  amyti6  que  ledict  Pare  a  et 
porte  ausdits  Gueau  et  sa  femme,  et  aussy  que  ainsy 
luy  a  pleu  et  plaist."  The  Gueaux  built  another 
narrow  slip  of  a  house  here,  to  match  the  P6riers* 
house. 

In  1574,  Ambroise  gave  to  his  niece,  Jehanne  Pare, 
a  house  in  the  same  block  with  the  rest :  "  pour  la 
bonne  amour  naturelle  qu'  il  a  et  porte  k  icelle  Je- 
hanne Pare,  sadicte  niepce,  et  aussi  parce  que  tel  est 
sou  vouloir."  Jehanne  and  her  husband,  Claude 
Viart,  were  thus  within  a  few  yards  of  him. 

Ambroise  also  had  a  house  in  the  Rue  Garanci^re, 
Faubourg  Saint-Germain  :  and  a  property  at  Ville-du- 
Bois,  outside  Paris.  The  house  in  the  Rue  Garanci^re 
he  left  to  two  of  his  daughters.  But  it  is  the  block  of 
houses  at  the  end  of  the  Pont  Saint-Michel  that  I 
love :  the  air  of  home,  the  sense  of  kinship,  the  quiet 
compact  old-worldly  affection  about  them.  Take  the 
sketch  of  them,  adapted  from  Le  Paulmier,  and  go 
round  about  it.  There  is  the  Rue  de  La  Huchette, 
where  Jehan  Par6  lived  :  the  church  of  Saint  Andr6, 
with  a  thousand  memories  in  it,  is  just  round  the 
corner.  There  are  Ambroise's  five  houses,  all  for 
him  and  his  kinsfolk :  at  number  6,  M^ry  de  Prime, 
wine-seller,  who  also  was  one  of  the  family :  at  num- 
ber 7  lived  Francois  Pichonnat :  at  number  8,  Charles 
de  Paris,  master  pastry-cook.    Claude  Viart,  before  he 


i8o  Ambroise  Pare 


married  Jehanne  Pare,  lived,  for  no  less  than  twenty 
years,  as  Ambroise's  pupil,  in  the  same  house  with 
him.  Catherine,  Jehanne  Mazelin's  only  child  that 
lived,  came  home  to  the  old  Maison  de  La  Vache,  and 
died  there  in  1616.  By  the  labour  of  love  of  Lc 
Paulmier,  who  has  published  every  possible  docu- 
ment touching  Ambroise's  life,  we  possess  a  wealth 
of  materials  for  romancing  over  this  story  of  the 
houses  in  the  Rue  de  L'  Hirondelle.* 

"  Only  the  King's  Surgeon." 

It  was  Sully,  himself  only  a  King's  minister,  who 
spoke  thus  of  Ambroise  Pare.  He  was  surgeon  to 
four  Kings,  not  counting  the  King  of  Navarre  :  to 
Henri  H.,  and  his  three  sons  in  succession,  Francois 
n.,  Charles  IX.,  and  Henri  III.  Surgeon-in-ordinary 
(1552)  to  Henri  II. :  surgeon-in-ordinary  and  valet-de- 
chambre  to  Frangois  II. :  surgeon-in-ordinary,  and 
afterward  (New  Year's  Day,  1562)  premier  surgeon 
to  Charles  IX. :  premier  surgeon  and  councillor  (1574) 

*  Eighteen  years  ago,  M.  Turner  believed  that  he  had  discovered 
Fare's  house.  "At  the  present  day,  in  that  part  of  the  Rue  de  1' 
Hirondelle  which  has  not  yet  been  pulled  down,  there  is  a  large 
house  that  still  catches  your  attention.  It  has  been  a  great  deal  al- 
tered :  but  the  door  has  still  the  shape  of  the  doorways  of  the  Renais- 
sance. The  bit  of  carving  over  the  low  arch,  and  another  carving  in 
the  wall  at  the  back  of  the  courtyard,  have  an  air  of  antiquity.  But 
no  tradition  concerning  Pare  is  connected  with  it,  and  the  present 
owner  believes  that  it  must  have  belonged  to  Diane  de  Poitiers.  I 
am  of  opinion  that  it  is  really  Ambroise  Pare's  house." 


Paris  i8i 

to  Henri  III.  He  was  still  holding  this  appointment 
in  1587,  three  years  before  he  died.  The  deaths  of 
Henri  H.  and  Francois  H.  must  be  noted  here  ;  and 
one  or  two  stories,  in  lighter  vein,  how  Par6  bore 
himself  toward  great  people. 

On  June  29,  1.559,  Henri  H.,  in  the  fortieth  year  of 
his  life,  and  the  twelfth  of  his  reign,  was  present  with 
the  Queen  at  a  three-days  tournament :  the  lists  were 
set  at  the  end  of  the  Rue  Saint  Antoine,  near  the 
Bastille.  It  was  the  last  day,  and  the  King  was 
minded  to  break  a  lance  with  Gabriel  de  Lorges, 
Comte  de  Montgomery,  captain  of  the  Scotch  Guard  ; 
who  would  have  refused,  but  the  King  compelled 
him.  It  should  be  the  last  time  ;  he  must  do  it  as  a 
favour  to  the  King.  They  met  and  broke  their 
lances  in  the  approved  fashion  ;  but  Montgomery,  by 
accident  or  design,  did  not  let  drop  his  broken  shaft : 
it  struck  the  King's  helmet,  lifted  its  vizor,  and 
wounded  him  above  the  right  eye  : 

"  The  muscular  skin  of  the  forehead,  over  the  bone, 
was  torn  across  to  the  inner  angle  of  the  left  eye,  and  there 
were  many  little  fragments  or  splinters  of  the  broken 
shaft  lodged  in  the  eye  ;  but  no  fracture  of  the  bone. 
Yet  because  of  such  commotion  or  shaking  of  the  brain, 
he  died  on  the  eleventh  day  after  he  was  struck.  And 
after  his  death,  they  found  on  the  side  opposite  to  the 
blow,  toward  the  middle  of  the  commissure  of  the  oc- 
cipital bone,  a  quantity  of  blood   effused  between  the 


1 82  Ambroise  Pare 


dura  mater  and  the  pia  mater  :  and  alteration  in  the 
substance  of  the  brain,  which  was  of  a  brownish  or  yel- 
lowish colour  for  about  the  extent  of  one's  thumb  :  at 
which  place  was  found  a  beginning  of  corruption  :  which 
were  causes  enough  of  the  death  of  my  Lord,  and  not 
only  the  harm  done  to  his  eye." 

"  Five  or  six  surgeons,"  says  Carloix,  "  the  most 
skilful  in  France,  diligently  did  their  best  to  probe 
the  wound,  and  to  search  for  the  way  into  the  brain 
where  the  splinters  of  the  broken  shaft  might  have 
gone.  But  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  find  it ; 
even  though  for  four  days  they  anatomised  four 
heads  of  criminals,  that  had  been  cut  off  at  the  Con- 
ciergerie  of  the  Palace  and  the  prisons  of  the  Grand 
Chatelet." 

Par6  was  only  one  of  many  surgeons  in  attendance. 
After  the  King's  death,  he  put  the  case  into  his  book 
on  Wounds  of  the  Head ;  and  in  the  dedication  to 
Chapelain,  he  says,  "  On  every  occasion  when  the 
appointed  physicians  and  surgeons  were  assembled 
to  remedy  the  King's  wound,  and  you,  Monsieur,  as 
premier  and  chief  of  all,  were  usually  present,  to 
hear  the  consultations  and  to  give  your  judgment 
and  advice,  what  it  was  necessary  to  do  in  so  dan- 
gerous an  evil — sometimes  you  did  me  the  honour 
to  ask  me  my  opinion."  .  .  .  Among  the  sur- 
geons was  Vesalius,  come  from  Brussels  by  order 
of  Philip  of  Spain. 


HENRI  II. 

FROM   AN   ENGRAVING  IN    THE   PRINT-ROOM,  BRITISH    MUSEUM. 


Paris  183 

Fran9ois  II.  died  within  a  year  and  a  half  of  his 
father,  on  December  5,  1560,  at  Orleans,  aged  seven- 
teen. 

"  When  one  was  least  expecting  it,"  says  the  author 
of  a  Life  of  Coligny,  published  in  1686,  "  the  King  sud- 
denly felt  a  great  pain  in  his  head,  and  took  to  his  bed. 
Men  thought  Conde's  trial  would  now  be  put  off ;  but 
the  Guises,  seeing  how  things  would  change  if  they  lost 
hold  of  Conde,  so  pressed  sentence  against  him  that  he 
was  condemned  to  lose  his  head.  When  Coligny  heard 
this,  he  sent  for  Ambroise  Pare,  the  King's  surgeon  ; 
pretending  he  was  ill.  And  as  Pare  was  one  of  the  num- 
ber of  his  friends,  and  Coligny  knew  he  secretly  pro- 
fessed the  same  religion  as  himself,  he  asked  him 
privately  what  he  thought  of  the  King's  illness.  Par^ 
said  the  King  was  in  great  danger,  but  he  had  not  once 
dared  to  say  so,  for  fear  of  doing  harm  at  the  Court. 
The  Admiral  answered  he  had  done  a  great  wrong,  for 
he  would  have  prevented  the  condemnation  of  Conde  ; 
let  him  therefore  go  at  once  and  spread  the  news,  or  their 
religion  would  lose  the  strongest  of  its  supports.  Pare 
promised  to  amend  his  fault,  and  did  it  at  once  ;  all 
the  Court  were  astonished,  having  believed  the  King's 
illness  was  nothing,  especially  as  it  had  begun  to  dis- 
charge from  the  ear,  which  made  them  think  Nature  had 
found  a  way  out.  .  .  .  But  the  King  died  in  a  few 
days  ;  and  all  the  intrigues  during  his  illness  made  men 
believe  his  end  had  been  hastened.  Pare  was  suspected 
of  having  put  poison  in  his  ear  while  he  was  dressing  it, 
by  command  of  the  Queen-mother." 

The  lives  of  the  Queen-mother  and  of  Pare  touched 


184  Ambroise  Pare 


again  and  again,  but  there  is  nothing  to  show  that 
she  was  ever  his  patient.  They  came  to  Paris  about 
the  same  time,  the  King's  strange  Italian  wife,  and 
the  barber-surgeon's  apprentice:  they  died,  one  in 
1589,  the  other  in  1590;  they  were  together  at  Rouen, 
at  Moncontour,  and  on  the  long  journey  to  Bayonne  ; 
she  saw  the  curiosities  of  surgery  that  he  showed  at 
Court ;  she  bade  him  write  the  treatise  on  the 
plague :  he  must  have  spoken  with  her  hundreds  of 
times.  One  scrap  of  talk  has  come  down  to  us: 
"  M.  Pare,  do  you  believe  you  will  be  saved  in  the 
next  world  ?  " — "  Surely,  madame  ;  for  I  do  what  I 
can  to  be  a  good  man  in  this  world  ;  and  God  is  merci- 
ful, giving  ear  well  to  all  languages,  and  alike  satis- 
fied whether  one  prays  to  Him  in  French  or  in  Latin." 
But  there  is  no  record  that  she  was  ever  in  need 
of  surgery  * ;  and  even  Ambroise  might  have  faltered 
in  his  skill,  with  such  a  life  entrusted  to  him  ;  like 
the  doctor  who  stands  helpless  and  talks  with  the 


*  L'Estoile  says  that  once  she  was  ill  of  a  surfeit,  and  once  (only 
once,  in  such  a  life  ?)  her  nerves  gave  way,  and  she  saw  a  ghost. 
On  December  26,  1574,  at  Avignon,  died  Charles  de  Guise,  Cardinal 
of  Lorraine.  According  to  his  own  people,  he  made  a  good  end  ; 
but  the  Huguenots  said  he  died  cursing  and  swearing  and  calling  on 
devils.  The  day  that  Catherine  heard  of  his  death,  she  was  talking 
of  it  at  dinner  ;  as  they  gave  her  glass  into  her  hands,  she  began  to 
tremble,  and  let  it  fall  ; — "  Jesus  !  There  is  Monsieur  the  Cardinal  of 
Lorraine  :  I  can  see  him."  For  some  nights  following,  she  had  the 
same  vision. 


Paris  185 

waiting-woman,  while  Lady  Macbeth  is  washing  the 
smell  of  the  blood  from  her  hands. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  Mary  Stuart  liked  him, 
and  often  talked  with  him ;  and  one  or  two  stories, 
of  no  great  value,  have  been  preserved  about  his 
Hfe  at  the  Court.  They  had  best  be  put  on  a  string 
here.  Once,  the  King  sent  for  Ambroise,  and  Am- 
boise,  Seigneur  de  Bussy,  went  by  mistake  instead 
of  him  ;  and  when  they  laughed  at  him,  he  declared 
that  if  he  had  not  been  Amboise,  he  would  wish  to  be 
Ambroise ;  for  there  was  nobody  at  the  Court  whom 
he  admired  more.  Once,  the  King's  dogs  were  ailing, 
and  the  King  said  that  Ambroise  must  see  them. 
He  would  not ;  he  sent  one  of  the  servants  from  the 
royal  kennels,  and  went  home  in  a  rage ;  the  King 
heard  of  this,  but  still  addressed  him  next  day  as 
"  my  dear  Ambroise."  Once,  Chapelain  the  Queen- 
mother's  physician  was  suspected  of  treason  against 
Charles  IX.,  and  the  young  King  told  his  suspicions 
to  Ambroise ;  who  answered  him  :  "  No,  Sire,  his 
accusers  are  the  real  criminals,  who  would  rob  you  of 
one  of  the  best  of  your  servants."  And  the  last 
story  is  that  the  magnificent  young  gentlemen  at  the 
Court  gave  the  name  of  "  ambrosia  "  to  Ambroise's 
decoctions;  to  be  under  his  treatment  was  called 
**  living  on  ambrosia  "  :  surely  a  very  little  joke  to 
come  such  a  very  long  way. 


1 86  Ambroise  Par6 


There  is  yet  another  story,  and  to  his  discredit ; 
he  tells  it  against  himself,  with  some  remorse,  but 
not  enough  ;  the  horrible  story  of  the  Cook  and  the 
Bezoar-stone.  A  gentleman  at  the  Court  showed  to 
Charles  IX.  a  bezoar-stone,  as  was  the  fashion  then 
to  show  all  sorts  of  odd  things  to  Royalty,  and  told 
him  it  was  a  universal  antidote  to  all  poisons.  The 
King  asked  Par6  if  this  were  possible ;  who  said  it 
was  not;  each  poison  must  have  its  own  contrary  for 
its  antidote ;  but  it  would  be  easy  to  try  it  on  a  con- 
demned criminal. 

"  Then  the  King  sent  for  M.  de  La  Trousse,  his  Pro- 
vost, and  asked  him  if  he  had  anyone  who  deserved 
hanging.  He  said  that  he  had  in  his  prisons  a  cook, 
who  had  stolen  two  silver  dishes  in  his  master's  house, 
and  was  to  be  hanged  to-morrow.  The  King  said  he 
wished  to  make  trial  of  a  stone  which  they  said  was 
good  against  all  poisons  ;  let  them  ask  the  said  cook, 
now  he  was  condemned,  if  he  would  take  a  certain  poi- 
son, and  forthwith  they  would  give  him  an  antidote, 
and  if  he  recovered  he  should  keep  his  life.  The  cook 
very  willingly  agreed,  saying  he  would  far  rather  die  of 
poison  in  prison  than  be  hanged  in  the  sight  of  the  peo- 
ple. Then  an  apothecary  gave  him  a  certain  poison  to 
drink,  and  forthwith  the  bezoar-stone.  Having  these 
two  fine  drugs  inside  him,  he  began  crying  out  he  was  on 
fare,  calling  for  water  to  drink,  which  was  not  refused 
him.  ,  .  .  An  hour  later,  having  heard  of  it,  I  asked 
M.  de  La  Trousse  to  let  me  go  and  see  him,  and  he  sent  me 
thither  with  three  of  his  archers.    I  found  the  poor  cook 


CATHERINE  DE  MEDICIS. 

FROM    AN   ENGRAVING   IN   THE    PRINT-ROOM,  BRITISH    MUSEUM. 


Paris  187 

on  all  fours,  going  like  an  animal,  his  tongue  out  of  his 
mouth,  his  eyes  and  his  face  flaming  red.  ...  I 
made  him  drink  about  half  a  sextier  of  oil,  thinking  to 
save  his  life  ;  but  it  was  of  no  service,  being  given  too 
late,  and  he  died  miserably,  crying  out  he  had  better 
have  died  on  the  gallows  :  he  lived  about  seven  hours."  * 

The  evil  that  we  do  lives  after  us.  Years  later, 
the  faculty  attacked  Par6  over  this  bad  business  of 
the  bezoar-stone  ;  here  is  his  lame  defence  (i575)  of 
himself  and  of  the  King  : 

"  Those  who  consider  the  end  for  which  the  poison 
was  given,  may  see  my  action  was  neither  detestable,  nor 
defamatory  of  the  King's  memory,  but  rather  praisewor- 
thy, that  I  let  them  poison  the  thief,  fearing  for  the  love 
of  the  service  I  bore  my  master  that  if  he  himself  were 
secretly  poisoned  he  might  trust  such  an  antidote.  And 
I  do  not  consider  I  defamed  the  memory  of  his  name  by 
citing  him  in  the  story,  no  more  than  Matthiolus  defamed 
the  memory  of  Pope  Clement  VII.,  telling  a  similar 
story  ;  who  commanded  that  poison  should  be  given  to 
two  robbers,  for  testing  the  virtue  of  an  oil  said  to  be 
antidotal  to  all  poisons.  Moreover,  the  thief  took  the 
poison  of  his  own  free  will,  preferring  to  die  in  prison, 
having  hope  of  escape,  rather  than  end  his  days  in  pub- 
lic with  a  halter." 

*  A  bezoar-stone  is  a  concretion  found  in  the  intestines  of  some 
herbivorous  animals.  The  poison  given  to  the  poor  man  was  proba- 
bly corrosive  sublimate. 

For  an  earlier  instance  of  experiments  on  condemned  criminals, 
January,  1474,  see  the  story  of  the  Archer  of  Meudon  ;  page  154  of 
Malgaigne's  Introduction  to  Fare's  Works. 


1 88  Ambroise  Pare 

The  Saint  Bartholomew's  Massacre. 

On  the  Friday  (August  22,  1572,)  before  the  mas- 
sacre, CoHgny,  leaving  the  Louvre  and  busy  reading 
a  letter,  was  shot  by  Maurevel,  from  the  window  of 
a  house  close  to  Saint  Germain  LAuxerrois.  His 
left  arm  was  wounded,  and  tv/o  fingers  of  his  right 
hand  were  broken  ;  but  he  walked  home  to  his 
house.  Par4  amputated  the  two  fingers,  and  made 
one  or  more  incisions  in  the  arm.  He  had  come  in 
haste ;  his  instruments  were  ill  chosen,  and  he  did 
not  do  the  operation  well ;  but  Coligny  did  not 
flinch,  and  whispered  to  one  of  those  round  him 
that  Merlin,  a  minister  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
Paris,  was  to  give  a  hundred  gold  crowns  to  the 
poor.  It  was  feared  the  shot  was  poisoned :  he 
said,  "  That  will  be  as  it  shall  please  God ;  pray 
Him  to  give  me  the  gift  of  patience."  On  the  Sun- 
day morning  early,  he  was  woke  by  the  tumult 
round  his  house  and  the  firing  of  shots  in  the  court- 
yard. He  rose,  steadied  himself  against  the  wall,  and 
said  to  Merlin,  "  Pray  for  me ;  I  commend  my  soul 
to  the  Saviour."  One  of  his  gentlemen,  named  Cor- 
naton,  came  into  the  room ;  Pare,  who  was  watch- 
ing by  Coligny's  bed,  asked  what  had  happened. 
Cornaton  answered  to  Coligny,  "  Monseigneur,  it 
is  God  who  calls  us  to  Him."  Coligny  said,  "  I 
have   been  ready  to   die  this   long  time ;  but  you. 


iliiilillilllliiiiliiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie 


COLIGNY. 

FROM    AN   OLD    ENGRAVING   IN   THE    PRINT-ROOM.  BRITISH    MUSEUM. 


Paris  189 

my  friends,  save  yourselves  if  you  still  can."      They 
went   up   to   the   top   of   the   house,   and    escaped 
through  a  window  in  the  roof. 
Of  the  King,  Brantome  says : 

"  He  kept  crying  out,  '  Kill,  kill,'  and  never  had  a 
wish  to  save  one  of  them,  except  Master  Ambroise 
Pare  ;  and  he  sent  for  him  to  come  that  night  into  his 
chamber,  commanding  him  not  to  stir  out  of  it ;  and 
said  it  was  not  reasonable  that  one  who  was  worth  a 
whole  world  of  men  should  be  thus  murdered,  and  he 
would  not  urge  him,  no  more  than  he  would  urge  his 
old  nurse,  to  change  his  religion," 

Sully,  who  was  twelve  years  old  at  the  time  of 
the  massacre,  and  came  in  danger  of  death  during 
it,  says : 

"  Of  all  those  round  the  King,  not  one  had  so  much  of 
his  confidence  as  Ambroise  Pare.  This  man,  who  was  only 
his  surgeon,  had  become  so  familiar  with  him  that  on  the 
day  of  the  massacre,  when  the  King  told  him  that  every- 
body must  now  turn  Catholic,  Pare  coolly  answered  him, 
*  By  the  light  of  God,  Sire,  I  think  you  remember  your 
promise  never  to  command  these  four  things  of  me  :  To 
enter  again  into  my  mother's  womb,  to  look  after  my- 
self in  battle,  to  leave  your  service,  and  to  go  to  Mass.' 
The  King  took  him  aside,  and  disclosed  the  misery  he 
felt  overwhelming  him.  '  Ambroise,'  he  said,  '  I  do  not 
know  what  has  come  over  me  these  last  two  or  three 
days,  but  I  find  myself,  mind  and  body,  as  much  shaken 
as  if  I  had  the  fever.     It  seems  to  me  at  every  moment, 


190  Ambroise  Pare 


sleeping  or  waking,  these  massacred  bodies  keep  show- 
ing me  their  frightful  blood-stained  faces.  I  can  only- 
hope  that  among  them  are  none  that  were  witless,  none 
that  Avere  innocent.'  " 

When  the  killing  was  all  done,  the  Queen-mother, 
pour  repaistre  ses  yeux,  went  to  see  CoHgny's  body 
hanging  on  the  gallows  at  Montfaucon.  On  the 
evening  of  the  Sunday  of  the  massacre,  pour  se 
refraischir  un  peu  et  se  donner  plaisir,  she  walked 
with  her  ladies  to  see  the  dead  bodies  in  the 
streets ;  and  was  pleased  to  make  some  particu- 
larly obscene  pathological  observations  on  one  of 
those  that  were  naked.  She  could  take  an  interest 
in  pathology  without  Park's  help  this  time  :  and  he 
must  have  been  wishing  himself  with  the  dead.  He 
saw  his  country  running  blood,  the  poor  taxed  past 
endurance,  and  every  office  under  government  to 
be  had  for  money :  his  friends  were  dead  in  the 
streets,  at  the  bottom  of  the  Seine,  on  the  gallows. 
Worse  things  were  yet  to  come ;  but  already,  look 
which  way  he  would,  he  could  not  see  the  salvation 
of  France. 


V. 

PARIS. 

1573-1590- 

"  I  am  so  determined  not  to  hide  the  talent  it  has  pleased  God  to 
give  me  in  Surgery,  which  is  my  calling  in  this  brief  life,  that  the 
more  my  days  pass  away,  so  much  the  more  I  feel  driven  to  work  yet 
harder  while  they  last,  to  help,  if  I  can,  those  who  shall  have  to  do 
with  me,  while  God  is  pleased  to  leave  me  in  this  world." — Preface  of 
the  Book  of  the  Plague,  1568. 

ON  Wednesday,  November  4,  1573,  Jehanne 
Mazelin  died,  aged  fifty-three,  and  was  buried 
that  same  day  at  Saint  Andr^.  Ambroise  was  left 
alone  with  their  only  surviving  child,  Catherine,  who 
was  thirteen  years  old.  He  had  also  the  care  of  Je- 
hanne Par^,  his  brother  Jehan's  daughter.  Jehan  had 
died  some  time  before  1560,  and  his  second  wife,  Je- 
hanne's  mother,  had  died  before  1577.  Ambroise 
and  his  wife  seem  to  have  adopted  Jehanne  Par^, 
that  the  little  Catherine  might  have  a  companion.  In 
1560,  they  set  aside  a  dowry  for  her;  in  1574,  Am- 
broise gave  her  a  yearly  allowance,  and  the  house 

191 


192  Ambroise  Pare 


where  she  and  Claude  Viart  lived  after  their  marriage 
in  1577. 

Children  and  Grandchildren. 

Thus  left  with  the  care  of  the  two  girls — a  hard 
matter  to  combine  with  his  work — Ambroise  married 
again,  in  what  looks  like  indecent  haste.  And  it  is 
to  be  noted,  as  evidence  of  a  good  understanding 
between  Ambroise  and  his  young  daughter,  and  of  a 
strong  centripetal  force  in  the  family,  that  father  and 
daughter  married  sister  and  brother.  Ambroise 
married  Jacqueline  Rousselet ;  Catherine,  seven  years 
later,  married  Francois  Rousselet. 

Ambroise  and  Jacqueline  Rousselet  were  married 
at  Saint  S6verin,  January  18,  1574;  less  than  three 
months  after  Jehanne  Mazelin's  death.  Jacqueline 
was  the  daughter  of  Jacques  Rousselet,  one  of  the 
King's  servants  ;  her  dowry  was  five  thousand  livres 
iourfiois,  but  Ambroise  took  two  thousand  and  no 
more;  he  settled  on  her,  under  certain  conditions, 
five  hundred  livres  tournois  per  annum  :  at  her  death, 
he  was  to  keep  not  only  his  clothes  and  his  surgical 
instruments,  but  also  his  weapons  and  his  horses. 
The  affluent  air  of  this  second  marriage-contract  is 
very  different  from  the  poverty  of  his  first  marriage  : 
more  money,  but  less  romance.  Jacqueline's  wit- 
nesses to  the  contract  were  well-to-do  people,  Gov- 


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Paris  193 

ernment  officials,  such  as  are  "  in  Society  "  :  Ambroise 
was  content  to  have  an  old  friend  and  neighbour, 
Hilaire  de  Brion,  shopkeeper,  master-apothecary,  and 
grocer,  bourgeois  de  Paris. 

Six  children  were  born  to  them  ;  and  some  of 
the  godparents  were  very  grand  personages.  It  may 
be  well  here  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  all  his  children 
by  both  wives,  and  the  fortunes  of  Jehanne  Par6, 
who  may  be  counted  as  one  of  the  family. 

Of  Jehanne  Mazelin's  children,  the  two  boys,  born 
fifteen  years  apart,  Francois  and  Isaac,  died  in  early 
childhood.  Catherine,  the  only  one  of  Fare's  child- 
ren who  could  remember  the  old  times,  was  married, 
on  March  28,  1581,  to  Frangois  Rousselet,  her  step- 
mother's brother,  treasurer  and  secretary  to  the 
King's  brother.  They  had  eight  children,  three  of 
whom  were  born  before  Ambroise  died.  Unhappily, 
a  dispute  arose  between  Ambroise  and  the  Rous- 
selets,  as  to  money  owing  to  Catherine  from  the 
time  of  her  minority.  A  law  suit  was  threatened,  but 
was  averted  by  friends  of  the  family,  and  the  matter 
was  arranged  ;  probably  the  quarrel  was  wholly  the 
fault  of  Frangois  Rousselet.  He  died  before  Cath- 
erine: she  came  back,  in  her  widowhood,  to  the  old 
Maison  de  La  Vache,  and  died  there  September  21, 
1616. 

Jehanne  Par6  married   Ambroise's  pupil,  Claude 
13 


194  Ambroise  Pare 


Viart,  on  March  27,  1577.  He  was  for  twenty  years 
Ambroise's  pupil  or  assistant ;  he  had  been  in  prac- 
tice at  Nantes,  and  had  served  in  the  army.  He  had 
plenty  of  money  ;  Jehanne  had  the  house,  her  dowry, 
and  her  allowance, — all  of  them  the  gifts  of  Am- 
broise ;  who  also  gave  Claude  all  his  surgical  instru- 
ments, certain  rights  over  his  books,  the  plates  for  the 
first  edition  of  the  Complete  Works, — which  had  cost 
more  than  a  thousand  crowns, — and  his  long  black 
robe  with  the  velvet  trimmings.  Claude  Viart  died 
about  1583  ;  Jehanne  made  a  second  marriage  with 
Frangois  Forest  of  Orleans,  January  11,  1588  ;  they 
had  a  son,  Francois,  born  1589. 

The  children  of  Ambroise  Par6  and  his  second 
wife,  Jacqueline  Rousselet,  were  : 

1.  Anne,  baptised  at  Saint  Andr6,  July  16,  I575> 
with  godparents  of  exceptional  splendour :  Anne 
d'Este,  Duchesse  de  Nemours,  and  her  son,  Due 
de  Nemours,  She  was  married  July  4,  1596,  to 
Henri  Simon,  who  became  one  of  the  King's 
Council,  and  held  a  high  position  in  the  Gov- 
ernment. In  1599,  Anne  nearly  died  in  child- 
birth. Her  life  was  saved  by  Haultin,  by  a 
method  that  her  father  had  taught  him.  Anne 
and  her  husband  were  alive,  but  without  child- 
ren, in  1616. 

2.  Ambroise,  baptised  May  30,  1576,  died  in  in- 


Paris  195 

fancy.  Grand  godparents  again  :  Charles,  Comte 
de  Mansfeld,  son  of  Park's  old  patient ;  Charles, 
Marquis  d'ElbcEuf,  one  of  the  Guises ;  and 
Philippe  de  Montespedon,  Princesse  de  La 
Roche-sur-Yon,  wife  of  another  old  patient. 

3.  Marie,  baptised  February  6,  1578. 

4.  Jacquehne,  baptised  October  8,  1579;  died 
1582. 

5.  Catherine,  baptised  at  Saint  Andr6,  February 
12,  1581.  This  is  Catherine  the  second.  She 
was  married  at  Saint  Andre,  September  29, 
1603,  to  Claude  Hedelin,  advocate,  poet,  and 
Government  ofificial.  They  had  twelve  children, 
one  of  whom,  Francois,  was  the  famous  Abbe 
d'Aubignac.  Claude  H6delin  died  in  1638. 
Catherine  died  in  1659.  The  portrait  of  Am- 
broise,  in  the  beginning  of  this  book,  and  many 
documents  relating  to  the  family,  are  in  the 
possession  of  Mdme.  la  Marquise  de  Charron,  a 
descendant  of  the  Hedelins. 

6.  Ambroise  the  second,  baptised  November  8, 
1583  ;  died  August  next  year. 

That  is  the  history  of  Ambroise  Park's  nine  child- 
ren :  and  he  who  will  read  and  read  again  the 
"  Pieces  Justicatives "  of  Le  Paulmier,  the  parish 
registers,  and  the  family  papers,  may  weave  a  hun- 
dred pictures  out  of  them.     We  come  across  Saint 


195  Ambroise  Pare 


Andre  far  more  often  than  I  have  written  the  name. 
Baptisms,  marriages,  and  funerals,  the  same  parish 
church  took  them  all.  The  increased  wealth  in  the 
marriage-contracts,  the  magnificent  godparents,  the 
good  marriages  that  the  daughters  made,  the  crowd 
of  grandchildren  whom  I  have  not  named — all  these 
are  mixed  with  the  names,  here  and  there,  of  Am- 
broise's  old  friends,  successful  at  last,  or  still  ob- 
scure. The  sound  of  the  vie  de  famille  is  in  the 
houses  of  the  Rue  de  L'Hirondelle  long  after  his 
death.  There  his  widow  lived  and  died  (June  26, 
1606) ;  there  Catherine  Rousselet,  widowed  too, 
came  back  and  died,  ten  years  later.  And  of  all  the 
daughters  I  most  want  to  know  more  of  her,  Jehanne 
Mazelin's  child  ;  especially  why  Claude  Viart  married 
not  her  but  her  cousin.  Ambroise  never  had  a  son 
to  follow  him.  There  is  a  meaning,  the  lacrimcB 
reriun,  in  the  names  of  these  babies :  Isaac,  the 
child  of  promise,  born  fifteen  years  after  Francois ; 
Ambroise,  born  seventeen  years  after  Isaac ;  then 
another  Ambroise,  the  last  child  of  his  father's  old 
age  :  all  four  of  them  dead  in  a  few  months  or  years 
after  their  birth. 

"  Le  Roi  est  Mort  :  Vive  le  Roi." 

The  death  of  Charles  IX.,  from  phthisis,  was  on 
Whitsunday,    May    30,    1574,   in    the    twenty-third 


CHARLES  IX. 

FROM    AN    ENGRAVING   IN   THE   PRINT-ROOM,  BRITISH    MUSEUM. 


Paris  197 

year  of  his  age,  and  the  thirteenth  of  his  reign.  He 
had  been  under  Park's  care,  for  pain  and  contraction 
of  the  arm  after  venesection,  some  time  before  1569. 
Of  his  death,  Brantome  says,  "  M.  de  Strozzi  and  I 
told  Master  Ambroise  Par6,  the  King's  chief  surgeon, 
that  the  King  was  dead  ;  who  answered,  in  an  offhand, 
abrupt  way : — en  passant  et  sans  long  propos — that 
he  was  dead  from  too  hard  blowing  of  his  horn  out 
hunting."  Mazille  attended  him  in  his  last  illness. 
The  terrors  of  which  he  had  told  Par6  returned  upon 
him.  On  the  Thursday  before  he  died,  there  was  a 
great  consultation  of  all  the  physicians,  and  on  the 
Friday,  Mazille  told  him  they  could  do  no  more  for 
him.  Then  he  asked  them  to  draw  the  bed  curtains, 
that  he  might  try  to  sleep ;  and  they  left  him  with 
two  of  his  gentlemen  and  his  old  Huguenot  nurse:* 

*  "  Mazille  estant  sorty,  et  ayant  fait  sortir  tous  ceulx  qui  estoynt 
dans  la  chambre,  hormis  trois,  assavoir,  La  Tour,  Saint  Pris,  et  sa 
nourrice,  que  Sa  Majeste  aimoit  fort,  encore  qu'elle  fut  de  la  religion  ; 
comme  elle  se  fut  mise  sur  un  coffre  et  commenfast  a  sommeiller, 
ayant  entendu  le  roy  se  plaindre,  pleurer,  et  sospirer,  s'approche 
tout  doucement  au  lit  ;  et  tirant  sa  custode,  le  roy  commence  a  luy 
dire,  jettant  un  grand  souspir,  et  larmoyant  si  fort,  que  ses  sanglots 
lui  interrompoyent  la  parole  :  '  Ah,  ma  nourrice,  ma  mie,  ma  nour- 
rice, que  de  sang  et  que  de  meurtres.  Ah,  que  j'ay  eu  un  meschant 
conseil.  O  mon  Dieu,  pardonne-les-moy  et  me  fay  misericorde,  s'il 
te  plaist.  Je  ne  S9ais  ou  je  suis,  tant  ils  me  rendent  perplex  et  agite. 
Que  deviendra  tout  cecy  ?  que  deviendrai-je  moy  a  qui  Dieu  le 
recommande?  que  feray-je?  Je  suis  perdu,  je  le  sens  bien.'  Alors 
la  nourrice  luy  dit,  '  Sire,  les  meurtres  et  le  sang  soyent  sur 
la  teste  de  ceux  qui  vous  les  ont  fait  faire  et  sur  vostre  meschant 


198  Ambroise  Pare 


and  on  the  Sunday  he  died.  On  the  Monday  after- 
noon, at  four  o'clock,  Pare  made  the  examination 
and  embalment,  in  the  presence  of  eight  physicians 
and  surgeons  of  the  household.  The  account  of  the 
King's  funeral  states  that  among  the  host  of  great 
people  who  followed  it  were  the  King's  surgeons,  on 
horseback. 

Henri  III.  (i 574-1 589)  was  twenty-three  years  old 
when  he  succeeded  his  brother.  Pare  kept  his  place 
as  chief  surgeon  and  valet-de-chambre,  and  became  a 
member  of  the  King's  Council.  Even  to  Henri  HI. 
he  was  loyal;  the  King  had  his  good  moments,  and 
Par6  must  make  the  most  of  them.  He  bore  with 
the  King's  favourites,  the  vices  of  the  Court,  the 
King's  follies — his  monkeys,  dogs,  and  parrots,  his 
horseplay  in  the  streets,  his  bilboguet, — Par6  saw 
him  thus  playing  the  fool  a  score  of  times.  He 
made  him  laugh  once,  with  a  joke  that  sounds  very 
simple  now  ;  and  showed  him  the  anatomical  pict- 
ures in  his  big  books — the  sort  of  thing  that  would 
amuse  him. 

He  was  soon  called  to  attend  him,  in  September 

conseil.  .  .  .  Mais  pour  I'honneur  de  Dieu,  que  Vostre  Majeste 
cesse  de  larmoyer  et  se  fascher,  de  peur  que  cela  ne  rengrave,  qui  est 
le  plus  grand  malheur  qui  s9auroit  advenir  a  vostre  peuple  et  a  nous 
tous.'  Et  sur  cela  luy  ayant  este  querir  un  mouchoir,  pour  ce  que 
le  sien  estoit  tout  mouille  et  trempe  de  larmes,  apres  que  Sa  Majeste 
I'eut  pris  de  sa  main,  luy  fist  signe  qu'elle  s'en  allast,  et  le  laissast  en 
r  eposer . ' ' — L'  E  st  oile. 


Paris  199 

I575>  for  a  furious  earache  :  this  was  a  serious  mat- 
ter, his  brother  having  died  of  disease  of  the  ear. 
Here  is  L'Estoile's  account  of  it : 

"  Sept.  2d.  The  King  fell  ill  with  a  pain  in  his  ear, 
which  frightened  him,  because  the  King  his  brother  had 
died  of  it  ;  and  he  said  this  two  or  three  times  to-day. 

"  Sept.  loth.  The  King  drove  out,  against  the  advice 
of  his  physicians  ;  and  returned  soon  after,  with  extreme 
pain  in  his  ear  ;  and  that  night  he  was  so  ill,  that  they 
sent  to  all  the  monasteries  in  Paris,  to  pray  for  him, 
and  a  courier  to  the  Queen-mother  ;  for  all  the  doctors 
despaired  of  him  for  twenty-four  hours,  except  Le  Grand. 
They  attributed  the  malady  to  his  wakeful  nights  and 
excesses  during  the  Carnival,  when  notwithstanding  the 
affairs  he  had  on  his  hands,  he  had  passed  whole  nights 
in  mumming  and  masquing,  and  other  exercises  little 
suited  to  his  health." 

A  rumour  ran  through  the  Court,  that  Par^  might 
attempt  to  poison  the  King ;  he  was  therefore  care- 
ful to  do  nothing  save  in  the  presence  of  the  phy- 
sicians. This  was  the  year  of  his  first  fight  with  the 
faculty  ;  and  in  their  jealousy  they  tried  to  keep  him 
out  of  the  consultations.  Ingrat !  tii  as  battu  ton 
pere,  he  said  to  Ferrier,  one  of  the  Queen-mother's 
physicians,  who  tried  this  trick  on  him. 

When  Jacques  Clement,  in  1589,  rid  France  of 
Henri  HI.,  Pare  was  seventy-nine  years  old ;  it  was 
Antoine  Portail  who  stood  by  the  King's  death-bed 
at  Saint  Cloud. 


200  Ambroise  Par6 


Warfare  with  the  Faculty. 

Park's  long  fight  with  the  physicians,  from  1575  to 
1 585,  was  waged  over  the  pubHcation  of  his  Collected 
Works.  The  ten  years'  war  is  marked  by  three  great 
battles  :  it  is  the  War  of  the  Three  Editions.  Some 
account  of  his  writings  is  given  in  the  chapter, 
"  Opera  Omnia  "  ;  here  we  are  concerned  only  with 
the  effect  produced  by  each  successive  edition  on 
the  faculty.  It  was  a  sort  of  Holy  War  for  the  de- 
liverance of  surgery  from  the  bondage  of  medicine  ; 
and  it  is  pleasant  to  read  the  fatuous  indignation 
and  futile  reprisals  of  the  physicians,  as  they  lost  one 
battle  after  another. 

I.  The  Edition  of  i^JS.  The  King's  privilege, 
for  nine  years,  allowing  Par6  to  publish  his  Collected 
Works,  was  signed  at  Avignon,  on  November  30,  1 574. 
The  book,  a  folio  of  945  pages,  dedicated  to  the 
King,  finished  printing  on  April  22,  1575.  It  is 
characteristic  of  the  faculty,  that  they  were  taken 
by  surprise.  On  May  5,  they  held  their  first  meet- 
ing, to  stop  a  book  that  was  already  published  ;  they 
called  Par6  impudent  and  ignorant ;  they  appealed 
to  the  Parliament — a  method  still  employed  by  the 
profession,  from  time  to  time,  without  very  marked 
success — and  asked  that  a  decree,  forty  years  old, 
should  be  confirmed,  forbidding  the  sale  of  any  medi- 
cal book  without  the  approval  of  the  faculty  ;  and 


Paris  20 1 

they  observed  that  Par6  was  only  a  barber-surgeon, 
thrust  into  the  College  of  Surgeons  by  the  King, 
ignorant  of  Latin  and  Greek,  even  of  grammar. 
They  got  together  some  of  the  surgeons,  and  a 
deputation  from  the  University;  and  on  July  9,  they 
had  another  meeting,  with  the  miserable  Estienne 
Gourmelen,  then  Dean  of  the  faculty,  in  the  chair : 
who  pointed  out  to  them  that  the  book  contained 
much  that  was  grossly  indecent  and  immoral. 

Five  days  later  the  case  came  before  Parliament. 
There  were  counsel  present  on  behalf  of  (i)  the 
faculty,  (2)  the  confraternity  of  Saint  Cosmo,  (3)  the 
civil  authorities,  for  fear  the  book  should  be  really 
indecent,  (4)  Andr6  Malezieu,  Provost  of  the  con- 
fraternity, who  said  Ambroise  had  plagiarised  from 
him : — from  him,  whose  contribution  to  medical  and 
surgical  literature  was  a  translation  into  French  of  a 
surgical  work  in  Latin  by  that  eminent  physician 
Gourmelen.  The  Parliament  confirmed  the  decree 
of  1535  ;  everybody  was  to  put  in  his  pleadings,  in 
writing,  within  three  days.  The  whole  thing  stopped 
here  ;  farce  from  beginning  to  end  ;  the  book  was  all 
over  Paris  long  ago. 

Ambroise  took  this  opportunity  of  telling  the  fac- 
ulty what  he  thought  of  them,  in  a  thin  quarto 
of  fifteen  pages."^     Every  word  of  it  should  be  read 

*  This  pamphlet  was  addressed  to  the  Parliament.  It  is  given  in 
full  by  Le  Paulmier. 


202  Ambroise  Pare 


carefully;  and  there  was  some  good  plain-speaking 
in  it : — 

"  For  more  than  thirty  years  I  have  been  printing  my 
treatises  on  Surgery  ;  Avhich  not  only  have  been  opposed 
by  no  man,  but  were  received  by  one  and  all  with  favour 
and  applause  ;  which  made  me  think,  if  I  gathered  them 
together,  I  should  be  doing  a  thing  very  agreeable  to  the 
public.  Which  I  having  accomplished,  and  that  at  an 
expense  past  thinking — when  I  would  make  them  see 
the  light,  lo  and  behold,  the  physicians  and  the  surgeons 
have  set  themselves  to  obscure  and  quench  them,  for  this 
sole  reason,  that  I  wrote  them  in  our  mother-tongue,  in 
phrases  quite  easy  to  be  understood.  The  physicians 
feared  lest  all  who  should  get  the  book  into  their  hands 
would  be  advised  how  to  take  care  of  themselves  in  time 
of  sickness,  and  would  not  be  at  the  pains  to  call  them 
in.  The  surgeons  were  afraid  lest  the  barbers,  reading 
these  my  works,  would  receive  full  instruction  in  all  the 
operations  of  surgery,  and  would  come  to  be  as  good  as 
themselves,  and  so  trespass  on  their  domains.  For  the 
rest,  both  parties  in  general  were  moved  by  wilful  hate, 
envy,  and  jealousy,  to  see  Ambroise  Pare  in  some  repu- 
tation as  a  man  well  esteemed  in  his  profession. 
Let  me  tell  them  I  can  pay  them  back.  And  I  ask  you. 
Gentlemen,  touching  this  charge  of  indecency,  to  re- 
member it  is  one  thing  to  treat  of  the  right  conduct  of 
life,  according  to  moral  philosophy,  for  the  instruction 
of  tender  youth,  and  another  thing  wholly  different  to 
speak  of  natural  things,  like  a  true  physician  or  surgeon, 
for  the  instruction  of  full-grown  men." 

2.   The  Edition  of  iS79-     ^^  ^S/^-  VdiVh  had  a  law- 


Paris  203 

suit  with  the  College  of  Surgeons,  over  certain  alter- 
ations in  their  statutes,  which  Par6  and  four  other 
surgeons  refused  to  sign  :  these  five  carried  the  day. 
The  faculty,  of  course,  took  an  interest  in  it ;  and 
decided  that  their  legal  adviser  should  watch  the 
case  on  their  behalf. 

In  1578,  when  the  second  edition  was  ready  for 
publication,  the  faculty  held  in  their  hands  the  de- 
cree of  1535,  confirmed  in  1575  ;  Pare  therefore 
submitted  the  new  edition  to  them.  What  they 
had  called  indecent  and  immoral  he  left  untouched  ; 
but  as  they  had  been  angry  that  he,  a  surgeon,  had 
written  on  fevers,  he  cut  the  treatise  on  fevers  into 
pieces,  and  mixed  it  with  the  treatise  on  tumours  ; 
a  method  of  pathology  not  to  be  recommended 
now.  Then  he  submitted  to  them  the  book  thus 
shaken  up.  The  faculty  appointed  a  committee  of 
ten,  on  April  5,  1578,  to  report  on  "  this  man's  heavy 
volume."  On  August  2,  the  committee  were  called 
upon  to  report.  They  said  they  would  rather  not 
bind  the  whole  faculty  to  any  definite  opinion  ;  and 
suggested  that  each  member  of  it  should  make  up 
his  mind  for  himself.  Here  the  matter  dropped  ; 
and  the  second  edition  came  out  on  February  8,  1579. 
The  Dean  of  the  faculty  in  1578  was  no  longer  Gour- 
melen,  but  Claude  Rousselet,  probably  related  to 
Park's  wife. 


204  Ambroise  Pare 


Park's  anger  was  rising  fast.  "  I  know  very  well 
that  the  surgeons,  who  ought  to  lend  me  a  hand  to 
hold  up  my  chin  for  fear  I  should  go  to  the  bottom, 
have  wanted  to  push  my  head  under  water  to  drown 
me.  They  have  done  their  best  to  make  me  obnox- 
ious to  the  authorities  both  of  Church  and  of  State, 
and  to  the  public  ;  they  have  left  no  stone  unturned 
to  upset  me  if  they  could." 

3.  TJie  Edition  of  1582.  This  is  the  Latin  edition, 
put  into  Latin  by  Jacques  Guillemeau.  The  opposi- 
tion of  the  faculty  to  it  was  a  marvel  of  stupidity. 
Like  the  oft-quoted  Dogberry,  they  were  anxious 
to  be  written  down  asses :  and  the  minutes  of  their 
meetings  are  still  to  be  read  in  Paris.  They  met 
on  December  21, 1581,  and  were  furious  that  anybody 
but  one  of  themselves  should  translate  a  book  into 
Latin.  "  Since  there  is  nobody  but  a  member  of 
the  school  who  would  know  how  to  make  the  trans- 
lation, it  is  disgraceful — quod  indignum — to  leave  it 
to  over-presumptuous  surgeons,  incapable  of  writing 
a  page  of  Latin."  They  appointed  a  committee  of 
six,  to  enquire  into  the  outrage :  who  made  their 
report  nine  days  later.  "  Your  committee  have 
gone  into  the  subject  carefully  {inaxivie  laboravit). 
We  recommend  the  following  title  for  the  book : 
*  Ambrosii  Paraei  primarii  regis  chirurgi  Opera  Latin- 
itate  donata  a  Docto  quodam  Viro :    Cura  et  dili- 


Paris  205 

gentia  Jacobi  Guillemeau,  chirurgi  Parisiensis.'  This 
title  to  be  given  to  the  printer,  Jacques  Dupuys. 
Any  leaves  of  the  book  having  upon  them  any  other 
title  but  this,  to  be  effaced,  torn  up,  and  kept  for 
some  vile  purpose  {expuncta  et  lacerata  et  in  viliorem 
usmn  asservata)."  Some  physician  was  to  be  the 
vir  doctus :  the  faculty  would  make  the  translation 
themselves,  or  pretend  to  make  it.  Nothing  came 
of  it  all:  the  book  was  printed  in  Germany,  and 
published  in  January,  1582,  with  the  following  title  : 
"  Opera  Ambrosii  Paraei  regii  primarii  et  Parisiensis 
chirurgi  A  docto  viro  plerisque  locis  recognita :  Et 
Latinitate  donata,  Jacobi  Guillemeau  regii  et  Paris- 
iensis chirurgi  labore  et  diligentia."  The  vir  doctus 
was  perhaps  Pare  himself.  The  faculty  were  power- 
less: they  said  Guillemeau's  behaviour  was  madness, 
and  the  height  of  impudence. 

4.  The  Edition  of  158^.  This,  the  last  edition  in 
Pare's  lifetime,  is  above  all  to  be  prized  ;  for  it  con- 
tains the  Apologia  and  the  Journeys.  No  opposi- 
tion was  offered  to  it :  the  faculty  were  silenced 
at  last. 

Antimony,  Mummy,  and  Unicorn's  Horn. 

Pare  conquered  the  faculty  in  this  War  of  the 
Editions ;  but  he  did  not  shake  the  supremacy  of 
the  physician  over  the  surgeon  in  practice.     It  was 


2o6  Ambroise  Pare 


a  good  thing,  perhaps,  that  he  did  not :  there  was 
only  one  Ambroise  Pare,  and  the  subjection  of  the 
average  surgeon  of  the  XVI.  century  to  the  average 
physician  gave  the  patients  a  better  chance  that 
their  cases  would  be  looked  at  all  round.  Pare 
accepted  this  arrangement :  again  and  again  he  tells 
the  young  surgeon  he  must  do  this  or  that  only  with 
the  approval  of  the  physician  ;  especially,  the  physi- 
cian must  decide  if  the  patient  is  to  be  bled,  and  to 
what  amount.  Pare  was  not  a  blind  advocate  of 
bleeding,  "  lest  the  patient  pour  forth  his  life  to- 
gether with  his  blood  ;  "  and  was  glad  that  the  physi- 
cians should  decide  in  each  case  for  or  against  it. 
"  For  the  practice  of  all  such  things  as  bleeding,  a 
physician  shall  be  consulted.  But  because  physi- 
cians are  not  in  every  place  and  always  to  hand,  I 
have  thought  good  to  set  down  the  following  medi- 
cines. ..."  Again,  of  sciatica,  he  says,  "  The 
quantity  of  blood  to  be  drawn  must  be  left  to  the 
judgment  of  the  physician,  without  whose  advice 
I  would  attempt  nothing  in  this  case."  Once  he 
bled  the  Prince  de  La  Roche-sur-Yon,  for  a  sick 
headache :  taking  the  blood  from  an  artery,  not 
from  a  vein,  "  whereof  I  have  made  trial  upon 
myself,  to  my  great  good  " — but  he  did  not  do  it 
till  the  physicians  had  given  their  approval. 

We  have  a  good  instance  of  the  airs  assumed  by 


Paris  207 

the  faculty.  On  August  10,  1559,  Par6,  then  close 
on  fifty,  and  surgeon  to  the  King,  was  a  witness  in 
the  action  brought  by  the  Damoiselle  Fran^oise  de 
Rohan  against  the  Due  de  Nemours:  a  scandal 
in  high  life.  Here  is  his  evidence,  shorn  of  legal 
technicalities : 

"  That  the  Damoiselle  de  Rohan  sent  two  of  her 
servants  to  him,  asking  that  he  would  come  and  bleed 
her  next  morning  between  seven  and  eight  o'clock,  say- 
ing the  physicians  were  to  be  there  at  that  time  to  assist 
at  the  bleeding.  Witness  went  next  morning  to  the 
lady's  chamber  at  the  Louvre.  At  her  chamber  door  he 
met  M.  Sallon,  chief  physician  to  the  Queen-mother  : 
who  asked  what  was  the  purpose  of  his  visit.  Witness 
answered  he  had  come  to  bleed  Mile,  de  Rohan.  Then 
M.  Sallon  said  he  should  not  bleed  her.  Witness  asked 
M.  Sallon  the  reasons  why  he  should  not  bleed  the  said 
lady  :  then  M.  Sallon  answered,  '  There  is  a  good  reason,' 
without  explaining  or  specifying  the  said  reasons."    .    .    . 

Ambroise  got  the  reasons  from  one  of  the  ladies- 
in-waiting. 

Again,  over  the  use  of  drugs,  Ambroise  was  will- 
ing to  give  way  to  the  physicians.  Thus,  in  1560, 
the  faculty  obtained  a  prohibition  against  the  sale 
of  antimony  in  Paris,  because  it  was  in  vogue  with  the 
alchymists  as  a  poison.  Ambroise  believed  in  an- 
timony, as  a  good  treatment  for  cases  of  plague,  and 
in  his  book  on  the  plague,  etc.,  1 568,  he  spoke  well  of 


2o8  Ambroise  Pare 


it.  The  faculty  attacked  him  for  this,  and  with 
success ;  and  when  he  published  his  Collected 
Works,  1575,  he  left  out  all  praise  of  antimony,  say- 
ing only : 

"  Some  approve  antimony,  and  highly  recommend  it, 
alleging  many  instances  of  its  use  observed  by  them- 
selves. But  since  the  use  of  it  is  forbidden  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  faculty  of  medicine,  I  shall  avoid  saying 
anything  about  it  here." 

But  there  were  two  drugs,  of  high  repute  in  the 
XVI.  century,  that  he  hated:  and  in  his  old  age  he 
made  a  furious  attack  on  them.  These  were  mum- 
my, and  unicorn's  horn  :  and  his  exposure  of  them 
shows  the  wonderful  vigour  and  youthfulness  of  his 
old  age,  still  at  seventy-two  original,  independent  of 
habit  and  of  tradition.'^ 

On   August  31,  1580,  M.  Christophe  Jouvenel  des 

Ursins,  Marquis  de  Traisnel,  a  man  of  many  titles,  had 

a  bad  fall  from  his  horse  in  the  country.  Par6  was  sent 

for:  and  he  called  in  five  other  surgeons,  so  serious 

was  the  case,  so  important  the  patient.  M.  des  Ursins 

recovered,  and  lived  eight  years  after   his  accident. 

During  his  convalescence,  he  asked  Ambroise  why 

*  "  Discours  d'  Ambroise  Pare,  conseiller  et  premier  chirurgien 
du  roy,  a  scavoir,  de  la  mumie,  des  venins,  de  la  licome  et  de  la 
peste.  A  Paris,  chez  Gabriel  Buon,  au  clos  Bruneau,  a  1'  enseigne 
Saint-Claude,  1582."  75  pages,  with  a  fine  portrait.  There  is  a  copy 
in  the  British  Museum. 


>*£'- 


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K  2 


Paris  209 

he  had  never  given  him  any  mummy :  and  this  was 
the  origin  of  the  last  of  all  Ambroise's  books:  a 
quarto  of  75  pages,  with  Ambroise's  portrait ;  dedi- 
cated to  the  patient. 

Mummy  was,  or  was  supposed  to  be,  what  it  said 
it  was :  the  resinous  debris  or  scrapings  of  Egyptian 
mummies.  For  unfathomable  reasons,  it  was  given 
internally  for  the  cure  of  falls  and  contusions ;  and 
was  in  high  repute,  "yea,  the  very  first  and  last 
drug  of  almost  all  our  practitioners  in  such  a  case  at 
this  present  time."  Ambroise  will  have  none  of  it, 
this  "  flesh  of  decomposed  cadaverous  dead  bodies  "  : 
he  has  never  seen  it  do  anything  but  give  the  patient 
a  pain  inside,  and  make  him  sick :  the  ancient  Jews, 
Egyptians,  and  Chaldees,  never  dreamed  of  embalm- 
ing their  dead  to  be  eaten  by  Christians.  There  are 
mummies  two  thousand  years  old  :  "  I  leave  you  to 
think  what  good  meat  and  drink  they  would  make 
now."  It  smells  so  bad,  that  fishermen  use  it  for 
bait.  The  methods  of  embalment  were  different  in 
Egypt  for  rich  and  for  poor :  a  low-class  embalment 
was  only  so  much  asphalt.  And  after  all,  what  is 
the  drug  that  we  use  in  Paris  ? 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  neither  the  physicians  and  sur- 
geons who  prescribe  it,  nor  those  who  have  written  about 
it,  nor  the  apothecaries  who  sell  it,  are  at  all  sure  what  it 
really  is.     Read  the  ancients,  read  the  moderns,  you  will 


2IO  Ambroise  Pare 


find  they  all  differ  about  it  :  ask  the  apothecaries,  ask  the 
merchants  who  sell  it  to  them  :  one  will  tell  you  one 
thing,  another  will  tell  you  another.  .  .  .  Some 
people  believe  that  mummy  is  made  and  manufactured 
in  our  own  France  :  and  that  they  take  the  bodies  by 
night  off  the  gallows,  eviscerate  them,  dry  them  in  an 
oven,  dip  them  in  pitch,  and  sell  them  for  good  true 
ftmmmy,  saying  they  bought  them  of  Portugese  mer- 
chants, who  brought  them  from  Egypt." 

Then  comes  the  story  of  Ambroise's  friend,  Guy 
de  La  Fontaine,  who  being  at  Alexandria  in  1564, 
made  friends  with  a  Jew  there,  who  did  a  great  trade 
in  mummies. 

"  He  showed  me,"  says  Fare's  friend,  "  a  storehouse 
where  he  had  many  bodies  piled  one  atop  of  the  other. 
Then  I  asked  the  Jew  again  to  tell  me  where  he  had 
found  these  bodies,  and  whether  they  were  found,  as  the 
ancients  said,  in  the  sepulchres  throughout  the  country. 
The  Jew  fell  to  laughing,  and  mocked  at  this  false  state- 
ment, saying  that  it  was  not  four  years  since  he  had 
prepared  all  these  bodies  himself,  thirty  or  forty,  and 
they  were  the  bodies  of  slaves,  and  such-like  people  :  he 
did  not  care  whence  they  came,  nor  what  they  died  of, 
nor  whether  they  were  old  or  young,  male  or  female, 
provided  he  got  them  :  and  nobody  could  tell  who  they 
were,  once  they  were  embalmed  :  and  he  marvelled 
greatly,  that  the  Christians  were  so  greedy  to  eat  the 
bodies  of  the  dead." 

So  much  for  mummy  :  "  the  sovereign'st  thing  on 
earth  for  an  inward  bruise  "  in  the  XVI.  century. 
Pare  would  never  prescribe  it,  or  let  anyone  take  it. 


Paris  211 

"As  if  there  were  no  other  way  of  saving  a  man 
fallen  from  a  height,  contused,  and  grievously  hurt, 
but  inserting  and  burying  inside  him  another  man  : 
as  if  there  were  no  way  of  recovering  health,  but  by 
a  more  than  brutal  inhumanity." 

Unicorn's  horn  was  a  drug  so  far  like  mummy 
that  nobody  knew  whence  it  came,  what  it  was,  how 
it  acted,  or  what  was  the  dose  of  it.  In  Fare's  time, 
drugs  were  weighed  and  measured  in  a  primitive 
fashion :  the  grain  was  literally  "  a  barley  corn  or 
grain,  and  that  such  as  is  neither  too  dry,  nor  over- 
grown with  mould,  nor  rancid,  but  well  conditioned, 
and  of  an  indifferent  bigness  "  :  other  measures  were 
the  handful,/?/:^//,  and  the  pound  medicinal,  "which 
is  for  the  most  part  the  greatest  weight  used  by 
physicians,  which  they  seldom  exceed."  Happily, 
the  virtues  of  unicorn's  horn  were  so  great  that  it  did 
not  matter  how  much  or  how  little  one  took  of  it. 
The  genuine  sort,  narwhal  or  rhinoceros  horn,  sold 
for  more  than  its  weight  in  gold :  but  horns  and 
bones  and  tusks  of  all  kinds  were  used  as  unicorn's 
horn.  It  was  an  antidote  to  all  poisons  :  but  Ron- 
deletius  had  obtained  equally  good  results,  in  cases  of 
poisoning,  with  plain  ivory-dust ;  "  which  is  the  rea- 
son," says  he,  "  why  for  the  same  disease,  and  with 
the  like  success,  I  prescribe  ivory  to  such  as  are  poor, 
and  unicorn's  horn  to  the  rich."     Chapelain  used  to 


212  Ambroise  Pare 


say  he  would  gladly  abolish  that  custom  of  dipping  a 
piece  of  unicorn's  horn  in  the  King's  cup,  but  he  knew 
the  belief  in  its  efficacy  was  rooted  too  deep  in  men's 
minds  for  argument :  besides,  if  it  did  no  good,  it  did 
no  harm,  save  to  the  purses  of  those  who  bought  it. 
Ambroise  reviews  a  whole  host  of  delightful  stories  : 
the  travels  of  Venetian  and  Spanish  gentlemen  in 
Arabia,  Asia,  and  Cathay:  Herodotus,  Pliny,  Prester 
John,  the  great  Cham  of  Tartary,  his  own  friend 
Louis  de  Paradis ;  he  quotes  them  all,  and  many 
others.  He  would  wholly  refuse  to  recognise  the 
existence  of  the  unicorn,  but  that  it  is  mentioned  in 
the  Psalms  and  the  Prophets ;  anyhow,  what  is  sold 
by  the  Paris  apothecaries  is  too  plentiful  to  be  genu- 
ine :  and  whatever  it  is,  there  is  no  virtue  in  it.  He 
tested  the  belief  that  if  you  draw  a  wet  ring  on  the 
table  with  a  bit  of  unicorn's  horn,  round  a  spider, 
scorpion,  or  toad,  the  animal  will  die  sooner  than 
cross  the  ring :  they  did  nothing  of  the  kind.  He 
kept  a  toad  three  days  in  water  with  a  bit  of  the 
horn,  and  the  toad  was  as  lively  as  ever.  There  was 
an  old  lady  who  sold  unicorn's  horn  at  the  Pont  du 
Change :  she  kept  a  bit  of  it  on  a  silver  chain,  and 
would  dip  this  in  a  glass  of  water  for  you  for  nothing. 
One  day  a  beggar-woman,  with  a  baby  suffering  from 
eczema,  got  the  water,  but  the  dipping  had  been 
omitted  :   nevertheless  the  baby  rapidly  recovered. 


Paris  213 

His  old  friend,  Luys  Drouet,  was  as  incredulous  as 
Chapelain :  he  gave  the  drug  sometinfies,  but  only 
when  the  patient  compelled  him. 

After  good  stories  innumerable,  "  Let  us  come  to 
reason,"  says  Par6  :  "  there  is  neither  taste  nor  smell 
nor  air  nor  nourishment  in  it :  therefore  it  cannot  act 
on  the  heart."  And  then,  as  with  all  his  life's  work, 
comes  the  final  appeal  to  facts :  "  I  can  protest  this 
much,  that  I  have  often  made  trial  of  it,  yet  never 
could  I  find  any  good  success  from  its  use." 

An  answer  was  published  next  year  to  this  dis- 
course, an  anonymous  pamphlet,  "  seen  and  approved 
by  M.  Grangier,  Dean  of  the  Schools  of  Medicine." 
It  begins  well :  "  Par6,  my  friend,  so  long  as  you 
practise  surgery,  the  people  make  much  of  you,  but 
when  you  go  outside  the  limits  of  your  profession 
to  censure  physicians  and  apothecaries,  the  little 
children  laugh  at  you."  Then  comes  a  hit  at  the 
illustrations  in  Ambroise's  treatise  on  Monsters ; 
"  All  those  monsters  that  you  have  stuck  anyhow 
into  your  Surgery,  to  amuse  small  children."  And 
how  could  unicorns  fail  to  exist,  when  the  King  had 
at  Saint  Denis  a  horn  for  which  he  had  refused  a 
hundred  thousand  crowns?  **  If  I  had  no  other  ar- 
gument to  show  there  are  unicorns,  this  alone  Avould 
sufifice  me."  Ambroise  made  a  good-natured  reply  to 
his  anonymous  critic,  ending  thus  :  '*  Anyhow,  I  pray 


214  Ambroise  Pare 


him,  if  he  wishes  to  oppose  further  arguments  to  this 
my  reply,  to  lay  aside  his  animosities,  and  be  more 
gentle  in  his  treatment  of  the  old  gentleman  {le  bon 
viellard)y 

It  would  be  easy  over  mummy  and  unicorn's  horn 
to  moralise  on  the  folly  of  the  profession  :  but  the 
point  is  that  Ambroise,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of 
his  age,  was  still  young,  shrewd,  humorous,  observant, 
practical,  free  from  prejudice,  ready  to  oppose  tradi- 
tion. The  times  were  Gourmelen's  times,  but  the 
voice  is  the  voice  of  John  Hunter — "Why  think? 
Why  not  try  the  experiment  ?  " 

"  Le  Bon  Viellard." 
He  was  still  young  at  seventy-two  :  and  when  he 
wrote  the  Apologia  and  the  Journeys,  he  was  seventy- 
five.  He  had  need  of  the  consolations  of  a  sound 
mind  and  good  health  in  his  old  age  :  outside  his 
home  and  his  work,  things  went  from  bad  to  worse. 
These  last  few  years  of  his  life — from  1585  to  1590 — 
must  be  put  in  a  setting  of  history,  for  this  reason, 
that  Ambroise  Par6  in  his  old  age  was  not  one  in  a 
crowd,  merely  a  successful  surgeon  in  good  practice. 
Paris  in  the  XVI.  century  had  a  smaller  population 
than  Bristol  has  now :  he  was  a  historical  figure  in 
the  streets,  known  to  everybody,*  keeper  of  the  lives 

*  He  used  to  say,  ' '  J'ai  des  choses  que  je  tiens  pour  les  dire  a  Dieu, 
mon  souverain  maitre,  et  rien  qu'a  lui." 


CAGE  D'ESCALIER  DU  XVI^me  SIECLE; 
RUE  CHANOINESSE. 

FROM  Martial's  "  ancien  paris." 


Paris  215 

and  secrets  of  innumerable  important  people,  head 
of  his  profession,  chief  surgeon  to  the  King.  To 
grasp  the  fact  of  his  greatness  in  Paris,  we  must  see 
Paris  as  he  did. 

Those  who  could  by  any  possibility  be  taxed 
were  squeezed  to  the  last  drop  of  their  blood,  and 
the  money  went  to  the  King's  favourites.  Those 
whom  we  now  call  the  submerged  tenth  sank  ever 
deeper  as  the  refugees  from  the  provinces  poured 
into  Paris.  In  1580  came  the  plague,  and  after  it 
the  influenza.  In  1 585,  L'Estoile  wrote  :  *'  The  plague 
is  great  and  furious  at  Lyon,  Dijon,  Bordeaux,  Sen- 
lis,  and  in  most  of  the  towns.  At  Paris  it  is  always 
with  us,  for  the  last  six  years,  but  with  less  evil  and 
fury."  A  year  later,  August,  1586,  "This  month, 
one  might  almost  say  over  the  whole  of  France,  the 
poor  country  folk,  dying  of  hunger,  were  going  in 
troops  plucking  the  half-dead  ears  of  corn  in  the 
fields,  and  eating  them  raw."  Then  began  the 
frightful  rush  of  paupers  and  beggars  into  Paris,  ''  so 
great  an  influx  of  beggars  in  the  streets,  and  at  the 
doors  of  the  citizens,  from  all  parts  of  France,  and 
even  from  foreign  countries."  (May,  1586).  Next 
year,  food  rose  to  famine  prices;  in  June,  1587, 
"  from  the  great  multitude  of  poor  beggars  in  the 
streets,  we  were  forced  to  send  two  thousand  of 
them  into  the  workhouse  at  Crenelle,  to  be  lodged 


2i6  Ambroise  Par^ 


and  fed  by  the  King,  who  distributed  to  each  of 
them  five  sous  daily."  Put  side  by  side  with  this 
dole  of  twopence  halfpenny,  three  entries  in 
L'Estoile's  journal: 

(i)  Sunday,  Aug.  23,  1587.  "Jean  Louis  de  Mau- 
garet,  due  d'Espernon,  chief  favourite  of  the  King,  whom 
he  used  to  call  his  eldest  son,  was  married  quietly  at  the 
chateau  of  Vincennes.  The  story  was  told  everywhere, 
that  the  King  gave  him  on  his  marriage  the  sum  of  four 
hundred  thousand  crowns." 

(2)  April,  1578.  (Death  of  Quelus).  "The  King 
went  every  day  to  see  him,  and  would  not  leave  his  bed- 
side, and  promised  to  the  surgeons  a  hundred  thousand 
francs  if  he  recovered,  and,  to  his  favourite,  a  hundred 
thousand  crowns,  to  encourage  him  to  get  well." 

(3)  Monday,  March  21,  1581.  (The  King  visits  the 
Parliament,  and  forces  them  to  appoint  his  nominees  to 
along  roll  of  vacant  offices  under  Government).  "And 
that  evening  he  went  off  to  Olinville,  to  take  the  waters, 
with  d'Arcques  and  de  La  Vallette,  his  favourites,  to 
whom  it  was  said  he  had  given  the  best  part  of  the  four 
hundred  thousand  crowns  from  the  sale  of  these  offices." 

There  is  a  list,  of  incredible  length,  made  in 
1586,  of  all  "  ofifices  v^naux  her^ditaires."  And  the 
courts  of  law  were  no  less  corrupt  than  the  Govern- 
ment. In  May,  1581,  one  Levoix,  living  with  another 
man's  wife,  and  enraged  at  her  wish  to  return  to  her 
husband,  fell  on  her  with  a  band  of  rufifians,  and 
nearly   murdered    her    before    her   husband's   eyes. 


Paris  2 1 7 

Having  been  arrested  and  brought  to  trial,  he  got 
off  scot-free,  "  and  escaped  by  the  gate  of  gold,  hav- 
ing compounded  the  matter  with  her  friends  for  two 
thousand  crowns ;  and  it  cost  him  two  thousand 
more  to  corrupt  justice,  and  buy  the  voice  and  ver- 
dict of  his  judges."  The  scandals  of  the  Court  and 
of  Society  may  be  left  between  the  covers  of  L'Es- 
toile's  memoirs  ;  nor  can  we  take  as  true  all  the 
Huguenot  epigrams  and  skits,  collected  by  him,  de- 
tailing the  vices  of  those  in  high  places.  Some  of 
these  satires  are  stupid,  some  of  them  are  filthy  ;  but 
here  is  a  good  stanza,  showing  at  a  glance  the  state 
of  Paris  in  1582.  Princeps  is  Henri  de  Navarre;  Dux 
is  Henri,  Due  de  Guise  : 

Status  Regni  Francise  Anno  Currente  1582. 

Nobilitas  Princeps     Dux        Rex         Regina  Senatus 
dira  offensus      atrox      mollis      avara     levis 

Plebem      vindictam  regnum  asra  tributa  favores 

vexat  agit  quasrit    dissipat  auget      emit. 

Or  we  may  take  a  few  pages  of  L'Estoile's  journal; 
noting  only  such  things  as  may  have  been  heard  or  seen 
by  Par6  himself.  Some  of  the  entries  made  between 
New  Year's  Day,  1586,  and  Lent,  1589,  show  the  real 
Paris  of  his  old  age.  "  Truly  the  face  of  Paris  was 
miserable  at  this  time  ;  and  he  who  has  ever  heard 
or  read  in  Josephus  the  factions  of  John,  Simon,  and 
other  villains,  who    under   the   veil  of  hypocritical 


2i8  Ambroise  Pare 


religious  zeal  plundered  and  sacked  the  city  of  Jeru- 
salem— if  he  had  now  come  to  Paris,  he  would  have 
seen  a  like  thing." 

1586. 

Jan.  1st.  Solemn  ceremony  of  the  Order  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

Jan.  i6th.  The  King  goes  to  Vincennes,  to  shake 
off  a  fever. 

Jan.  30th.  Two  murderers  broken  on  the  wheel, 
at  the  Pont  Saint  Michel,  close  to  Park's  house. 
Suicide  of  a  doctor  named  Sylva,  imprisoned  in  La 
Conciergerie. 

Feb.  1st.  Jean  Badon,  late  Rector  of  the  Univer- 
sity, hanged  and  burned  on  the  Place  de  Gr^ve. 

Feb.  loth.  Exhibition  of  an  armless  man,  who 
could  write,  play  cards,  etc. 

March  8th.  An  affray,  for  some  trivial  reason,  on 
the  King's  highway,  between  six  Seigneurs :  three 
killed,  three  wounded. 

March  26th.  The  King  and  others  make  a  pilgrim- 
age afoot  to  Chartres. 

March  30th.  Procession  of  the  King  and  200  peni- 
tents through  Paris. 

April  24th.  Arrival  of  a  Protestant  embassy  from 
Denmark.  Three  deaths,  in  April,  from  suicide ; 
one  of  them  a  boy  13  years  old. 

May  2 1  St.  Arrival  of  a  Protestant  embassy   from 


Paris  219 

Germany.  In  May,  such  crowds  of  beggars  in  the 
streets  that  house-to-house  collections  were  made 
for  them. 

Aug.  5th.  Arrival  of  another  Protestant  embassy 
from  Germany.  In  August,  news  of  the  return  of 
"  Drac,  capitaine  anglois  "  from  his  voyage  round 
the  world. 

Sept.  1 2th.  Return  of  the  King  from  another  pil- 
grimage to  Chartres.  Visit  to  the  church  of  the 
Capuchins.  In  September,  news  that  Mary  Stuart 
is  imprisoned  in  the  Tower  of  London. 

Nov.  22d.  Francois  le  Breton,  Parliamentary  ad- 
vocate, hanged  for  treason. 

December.  The  King  again  at  Chartres,  and  then 
at  the  Capuchins. 

1587- 

Jan.  1st.  Solemn  ceremony  of  the  Order  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Price  of  food  rising.  Further  measures 
for  the  relief  of  the  crowds  of  beggars.  A  whole 
gang  of  forgers  hanged ;  the  ringleader  was  boiled 
alive,  at  the  markets. 

Feb.  6th.  Suicide  of  a  prisoner  in  La  Conciergerie. 
His  body  dragged  through  the  streets  on  a  hurdle. 
Carnival  and  Lent  duly  observed  by  the  King. 

Feb.  1 2th.  Duel  between  two  Seigneurs  at  the 
Pre  aux  Clercs.  Collision  between  their  men  and 
the  archers  of  the  King's  guard.     Many  killed. 


220  Ambroise  Pare 


Feb.  2 1st.  Rumours  of  a  plot  against  the  King's 

life. 

Feb.  26th.  A  man  and  a  woman  hanged  and 
burned  in  front  of  Notre  Dame,  for  magic  and 
witchcraft.'^ 

March  ist.  News  of  the  execution  of  Mary  Stuart. 
Public  mourning  in  Paris. 

March  15.  Another  rumour  of  a  plot  for  the 
League  to  seize  Paris. 

April  5th.  The  King  heads  a  solemn  procession 
at  the  church  of  the  Augustines.  Food  very  dear. 
Severe  frosts.  Continued  rush  of  paupers  and  beg- 
gars into  Paris. 

May  24th.  Still  winter.  The  vineyards  frozen 
round  Paris. 

June  3d.  Food  at  starvation  prices.  2000  beggars 
deported  out  of  Paris. 

June  28th.  News  of  the  defeat  of  400  or  500  Hu- 
guenots, in  Poitou,  by  the  King's  favourite,  the  Due 
de  Joyeuse.  They  surrendered  under  promise  of 
life  ;  and  were  all  put  to  death. 

July.  Public  exhibition  at  Saint  S6v6rin  of  a  huge 
cartoon  of  Elizabeth  oppressing  the  English  Catholics. 

July  9th.  The  shrine  of  Saint  Genevieve  carried 
in  procession,  to  stop  the  rain. 

*  "  On  trouva  ceste  execution  toute  nouvelle  a  Paris,  pour  ce  que 
ceste  vermine  y  estoit  tousjours  demeuree  libre  et  sans  estre  recber- 
chee,  principalement  k  la  cour." — L'Estoile. 


Paris  221 

July  2 1st.  Solemn  procession  of  the  King  and 
other  penitents  through  Saint-Germain  des  Pres. 

July  22d,  The  bakers'  shops  in  Les  Halles  stormed 
by  a  mob, 

Aug.  2d.  Solemn  ceremony  of  the  Order  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem. 

Aug.  gth.  Sermons  throughout  Paris  in  praise  of 
the  Due  de  Guise  and  the  Due  de  Joyeuse,  and  not 
of  the  King. 

Aug.  25th.  Huguenot  victory  at  Montelimart. 
7(X)  or  800  Catholics  killed.  Defeat  of  Swiss  Hugue- 
nots in  Dauphin^.  Solemn  Te  Deum  at  Notre 
Dame. 

Aug.  30th.  Marriage  of  the  Due  d'Espernon,  the 
King's  favourite.  The  King  gives  him  400,000 
crowns,  and  to  the  bride  a  necklace  worth  100,000 
crowns. 

Sept.  2d.  Tumult  in  the  Rue  Saint  Jacques,  on 
an  attempt  made  by  the  King  to  arrest  three  preach- 
ers of  the  League. 

Sept.  13th.  The  King  goes  to  Gien.  Solemn  pro- 
cession and  prayers  for  his  safety. 

Sept.  26th.  A  man  broken  on  the  wheel  for  forg- 
ery, and  for  sending  an  infernal  machine  to  the  Seig- 
neur de  Millaud. 

October.  Battle  of  Coutras,  victory  of  Henri  de 
Navarre ;  defeat  and  death  of  Joyeuse. 


222  Ambroise  Pare 


November.  Guise  defeats  the  German  Protestants 
at  Auneau.  Disbanding  of  the  German  and  Swiss 
Protestant  armies.  Solemn  Te  Deum  at  Notre 
Dame. 

December.  Return  of  the  King.  Secret  journey 
of  Guise  to  Rome.  False  report  of  the  death  of 
Henri  de  Navarre. 

1588. 

Jan.  1st.  Solemn  ceremony  of  the  Order  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

Jan.  24th.  A  marvellous  thick  darkness  over  Paris. 

Jan.  31st.  Theological  disputation  between  the 
King  and  two  Huguenot  women  in  the  prison  of 
Le  Chatelet. 

Feb.  1 2th.  The  King  daily  at  the  great  fair  held 
at  Saint  Germain,  "  voiant  et  souffrant  faire  par  ses 
mignons  et  courtizans,  en  sa  presence,  infinies  vila- 
nies  et  insolences." 

Feb.  2ist.  Solemn  ceremony  at  Notre  Dame  :  the 
Bishop  of  Paris  made  a  Cardinal. 

Feb.  29th.  Their  swords  taken  from  the  students 
of  the  University,  for  riotous  behaviour  at  the  fair. 
Discovery  of  the  Due  d'Aumale's  plot  against  the 
Due  d'Espernon. 

March  3d.  A  man  hanged  for  stealing  a  watch. 

March  4th.  Grand  lying-in-eflfigy  and  funeral  of 
the  Due  de  Joyeuse. 


Paris  223 

March  9th.  News  of  the  death  of  Henri  de  Bour- 
bon, son  of  Cond6.  Raising  of  the  tax  on  salt ;  great 
indignation  of  the  people. 

April.  A  madman  whipped  and  sent  to  the  Bas- 
tille, for  speaking  his  mind  to  the  King. 

April  26th.  Departure  of  Espernon  for  Normandy. 
The  King  goes  to  Vincennes,  for  a  week  of  peni- 
tence. Another  rumour  of  a  plot  of  the  League  to 
seize  Paris. 

May  9th.  Return  of  Guise  to  Paris,  amid  shouts 
of  "Vive  Guise,  vive  le  pilier  de  I'Eglise"  :  furious 
quarrel  of  the  King  with  him. 

May  1 2th.  The  Day  of  the  Barricades  :  open  war 
in  Paris  between  Guise  and  the  King. 

May  14th.  Guise  receives  the  keys  of  the  Bas- 
tille :  offers  his  protection  to  the  English  Ambassador. 

May  i6th.  Fighting  at  the  Porte  Saint  Honor^. 
Departure  of  a  Capuchin  procession  to  the  King  at 
Chartres.  Murder  of  Mercier,  near  Park's  house. 
Several  rich  houses  plundered  by  Guise's  men. 

June  23d.  Burning  of  an  &^^y  of  Heresy,  stufTed 
with  fireworks.  Exhibition  of  a  Loyalist  cartoon 
outside  the  Hotel  de  Ville. 

June  28th.  The  two  sisters,  whom  the  King  had 
visited  in  prison,  hanged  and  burned  on  the  place 
de  Gr^ve.  The  mob  cut  down  one  of  them  and 
threw  her  alive  into  the  fire. 


224  Ambroise  Pare 


July  i6th.  Guitel  hanged  and  burned  for  heresy, 
or  rather  for  atheism. 

July  2 1st.  Fresh  measures  against  the  Huguenots. 
Solemn  Te  Deum,  and  a  big  bonfire  in  front  of  the 
Hotel  de  Ville. 

July  30th.  Departure  of  the  Queen-mother,  Guise, 
the  Archbishop  of  Lyon,  and  others,  to  the  King 
at  Chartres.  Pretended  reconciliation  of  Guise  with 
the  King.* 

August.  News  of  the  destriiction  of  the  Spanish 
Armada. 

September.  Riot  in  the  Church  of  Saint  Gervais, 
over  the  appointmet  of  a  new  cur6. 

November.  Two  sensational  cases  of  attempt  to 
murder.  One  of  the  culprits  tortured  and  broken 
on  the  wheel. 

Dec.  23d.  Murder  of  Guise  by  order  of  the  King. 
Next  day,  murder  of  his  brother  the  Cardinal.  Fury 
of  the  people.  They  tear  down  the  royal  arms,  smash 
the  statues.  Wild  confusion  in  the  streets  and  in  the 
churches. 

*  "  Le  Mardy,  2  Aoust,  Sa  Majeste  entretenue  du  dit  due  pendant 
son  disner,  lui  demanda  a  boire  ;  puis,  en  riant,  lui  demanda  a  qui  ils 
beuroient  :  'A  qui  vous  plaira,  Sire,'  respondit  le  due  de  Guise; 
'c'est  aVotre  Majeste  d'en  ordonner.' — 'Mon  cousin,'  dit  le  Roy,  'beu- 
vons  a  nos  bons  amis  les  huguenos.' — '  C'est  bien  dit.  Sire,'  respond 
monsieur  de  Guise. — '  Et  a  nos  bons  barricadeus  de  Paris,'  va 
dire  le  Roy  tout  aussi-tost,  '  beuvons  aussi  a  eux,  et  ne  les  oublions 
pas.'  " 


S\.oy    I  honncur   ch   cc  'fleck ,  c^   qui    as     ianantaai 
bur    tant     dc  B-^oys  jui  ont  cc    ti-cn  fceptrc     portc  , 
"jju  Jtrai     -vn     nui-^clc     a     la      pcrtcncc  , 
L  ornmz     t^n,  trcjchrcstun  ^  trcfdcuot  ,  a"  xrcfs'acjc 


HENRI  III. 

FROM   AN    OLD    ENGRAVING   IN   THE    PRINT-ROOM.  BRITISH   MUSEUM. 


Paris  225 

1589. 

January.  Furious  sermons  against  the  King  by 
Lincester  and  other  preachers  of  the  League. 

Jan.  7th.  News  of  the  death  of  the  Queen-mother,  at 
Blois.* 

Jan.  9th.  Another  false  report  of  the  death  of 
Henri  de  Navarre. 

Jan.  i6th.  Rioting  in  the  streets ;  many  houses 
stormed  and  plundered. 

Jan.  26th.  A  messenger  from  the  King  seized  and 
imprisoned.  The  Sorbonne  and  the  Faculty  of  The- 
ology absolve  the  people  of  all  duty  to  the  King, 
and  erase  his  name  from  the  prayer-books  :  furious 
sermons,  processions,  and  public  prayers  against  him. 

Feb.  7th.  Solemn  ceremony,  and  public  rejoicing, 
at  the  baptism  of  the  posthumous  son  of  Guise. 

Feb.  14th.  More  processions,  one  of  600  children. 
A  sudden  craze  for  midnight  processions,  which  led  to 
much  immorality. 

Feb.  1 5th.  (Ash  Wednesday).    Lincester's  sermon  ; 

*  The  ne\v3  came  on  Saturday.  Here  is  an  extract  from  next  day's 
sermon  at  the  Church  of  Saint  Bartholomew  : 

"  Aujourd'hui,  messieurs,  se  presente  une  difficulte,  s9avoir,  si 
Teglise  Catholique  doit  prier  Dieu  pour  elle,  aiant  vescu  si  mal 
qu'elle  a  vescu,  avance  et  supporte  souvent  I'heresie.  Sur  quoi  je 
vous  dirai,  messieurs,  que  si  vous  lui  voulez  donner  a  I'avanture  par 
charite  ung  Pater  et  un  Ave,  vous  le  pouvez  faire  ;  il  lui  servira  de 
ce  qu'il  pourra,  si  non,  il  n'y  a  pas  grand  interest.  Je  vous  le  laisse 
a  vostre  liberte. " 
15 


2  26  Ambroise  Pare 


that  he  would  not  preach  the  Gospel,  because  that 
was  so  common,  and  everybody  knew  it.  But  he 
would  preach  the  life,  actions,  and  abominable  deeds 
of  that  perfidious  tyrant,  Henri  de  Valois — "  against 
whom  he  disgorged  an  infinity  of  villainies  and  in- 
sults, saying  he  invoked  devils,"  etc. 

Ambroise  Par6  died  in  December  1590;  and  so 
late  as  1587  the  plot  was  still  thickening,  and  the 
actors  were  all  on  the  stage.  Then  Death  began  to 
shift  the  scenes.  On  March  i,  1587,  came  the  news  of 
the  execution  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  On  May  12, 
1588,  the  struggle  between  the  King  and  the  Guises 
came  to  open  warfare  in  the  streets,  the  Day  of 
the  Barricades.  In  August  of  that  same  year  the 
Spanish  Armada  was  destroyed.  The  scenes  were 
shifted  now  to  some  purpose ;  but  the  actors  re- 
mained in  their  places,  and  must  finish  their  parts. 
The  last  act  of  the  tragedy  was  soon  over.  On  De- 
cember 23,  1588,  Guise  and  his  brother  were  mur- 
dered by  order  of  the  King.  On  January  7,  1589, 
the  Queen-mother  died.  On  August  i,  of  that  same 
year,  the  King  was  assassinated.  The  curtain  fell 
now,  and  Henri  de  Navarre  comes  before  it  to  speak 
the  epilogue. 

He,  now  Henri  IV.,  having  defeated  the  Catholic 
army  at  Ivry,  March  14,  1590,  advanced  upon  Paris 


^a  nMalettlae  din  nur  JieSeiff , 
f^ar  aSs  lejjnnn  mytrvet  werpt , 


nkd  iliehen  m  dtrfttbm  nod        i  JneJ>  Tarma  hmftias>AcUrlan4t,> 
OdunTUSiJmiUch^ckce  mchcr      \   'VUParm  n«^h  Snf/plJicHsa't  ' 

SIEGE  OF  PARIS,   1590. 


'}  ~'V^^ 


Paris  227 

and  laid  siege  to  it.  To  Catholic  Paris  he  was  a 
heretic,  a  traitor,  and  a  murderer  ;  they  would  die, 
before  they  would  open  their  gates  to  him.  The 
siege  lasted  from  May  to  September.  The  number 
of  the  population  was  about  two  hundred  thousand. 
An  eye-witness  says  that  at  last  they  died  in  the 
streets,  a  hundred  to  two  hundred  daily.  Those  who 
headed  a  meeting  in  favour  of  peace  were  taken  by 
the  League,  and  hanged.  When  the  food  came  to 
an  end,  they  ate  ofTal,  the  refuse  in  the  gutters,  the 
bones  of  the  dead  ;  even,  it  is  said,  the  bodies  of 
children.  It  was  the  delirium  of  weakness :  the 
preachers  of  the  League,  Lincester  and  others,  put 
on  armour  with  their  priests'  robes,  and  raged  through 
Paris.  The  great  Archbishop  of  Lyon  was  the 
leader  of  them  ;  he  had  dined  with  the  Guises,  on 
the  eve  of  the  Day  of  the  Barricades ;  they  had 
supped  with  him,  the  Sunday  before  they  were  mur- 
dered ;  he  stood  for  the  League,  to  avenge  his  party 
on  the  Protestants,  though  the  people  of  Paris  should 
die  like  flies. 

The  likeness  of  Paris  to  Jerusalem  was  complete 
now  :  the  stories  of  the  two  sieges  are  strangely  alike. 
It  is  the  one  time,  the  last  of  all  his  fourscore  years, 
when  we  most  desire  to  catch  sight  of  Ambroise 
Par6,  and  hear  the  sound  of  his  voice.  And  we  see 
him,  eighty  years  old,  afoot  in  the  streets  among  the 


228  Ambroise  Pare 


dying  and  the  dead,  set  suddenly  face  to  face  with 
the  great  leader  of  the  League,  bidding  him  for  God's 
sake  and  the  poor  to  preach  peace  to  the  people.  It 
is  not  an  incident  in  Fare's  life,  but  the  crown  of  it ; 
"  the  last  of  life,  for  which  the  first  was  made." 

A  few  days  later,  August  29th,  the  siege  was 
raised.  When  Christmas  Day  came,  Ambroise  Par6 
had  just  died.  Of  the  manner  of  his  death,  conscious 
or  unconscious,  easy  or  uneasy,  we  know  nothing.  It 
was  the  time  when  he  had  seen  the  retreat  of  the 
Emperor,  eight  and  twenty  years  ago,  from  before 
the  walls  of  Metz. 


VI. 


OPERA   OMNIA. 


"  God  is  my  witness,  and  men  are  not  ignorant  of  it,  that  I  have 
laboured  more  than  forty  years  to  throw  light  on  the  art  of  Surgery 
and  bring  it  to  perfection.  And  in  tliis  labour  I  have  striven  so  hard 
to  attain  my  end,  that  the  ancients  have  nought  wherein  to  excel  us, 
save  the  discovery  of  first  principles  :  and  posterity  will  not  be  able  to 
surpass  us  (be  it  said  without  malice  or  offence)  save  by  some  additions, 
such  as  are  easily  made  to  things  already  discovered." — Dedication  to 
the  King  of  the  Edition  of  i^JS- 

AMBROISE  PARE  was  sixty-five  years  old,  when 
he  set  this  astounding  statement  about  poster- 
ity on  the  first  page  of  his  Works,  more  than  three 
centuries  ago :  and  for  two  centuries  and  a  half  it  re- 
mained not  far  from  the  truth.  The  discovery  of 
anaesthetics,  about  fifty  years  ago,  and  the  work  of 
Lister  and  of  other  surgeons,  have  put  an  end  to  his 
prophecy.  But  if  we  put  aside  the  sciences — anatomy, 
physiology,  pathology,  experimental  work — and  take 
what  Pare  meant  by  surgery,  and  read  what  sort  of 
work  was  done,  what  measure  of  success  was  at- 
tained, at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  we 

229 


230  Ambrolse  Pare 


shall  acknowledge  that  his  words  held  good,  on  the 
whole,  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

After  the  Dedication,  the  Preface  is  pleasant  read- 
ing for  a  surgeon  : 

"  The  Medicine  which  we  profess  at  this  present  time 
is  composed  of  three  parts.  Surgery,  Diet,  and  Pharmacy. 
.  .  But  if  we  refer  to  Celsus,  we  shall  find  that  no 
part  of  it  is  so  praiseworthy  as  Surgery  :  for  in  the  cure 
of  diseases  by  drugs  and  by  diet,  Nature  is  very  power- 
ful, and  what  has  been  profitable  at  one  time  is  at  an- 
other time  useless,  till  one  may  doubt  if  the  return  of 
our  health  be  due  to  the  kindness  of  Nature,  or  to  the 
power  of  medicines  and  of  dieting.  .  .  .  This  Sur- 
gery surpasses  Pharmacy  and  Diet  alike  in  antiquity, 
necessity,  certainty,  and  difficulty  :  yet  one  without  the 
other  would  not  be  very  profitable  :  for  they  are  so 
joined  together  that  if  they  were  kept  apart,  and  did  not 
each  help  the  other,  never  would  Surgeon,  or  Physician, 
or  Apothecary,  attain  the  object  they  have  set  before 
themselves." 

Save  art  and  politics,  the  Works  of  Par6  contain 
every  possible  subject :  Anatomy  and  Physiology, 
Medicine,  Surgery,  Obstetrics,  State  Medicine,  Pathol- 
ogy, Pharmacy,  Natural  History,  Demonology,  and 
much  else.  The  divine  origin  of  diseases,  the  influ- 
ence of  the  stars,  the  power  of  devils,  the  nature  of 
the  soul,  the  history  of  medicine — he  ranges  from 
these  to  the  tricks  of  beggars  and  of  quacks,  the 
homely  remedies  of  old  women,  the  folly  of  tight- 


opera  Omnia  231 

lacing,  the  best  sort  of  tooth-powder,  and  the  right 
way  to  make  pap  for  a  baby.  The  breadth,  insight, 
force,  and  humanity  of  his  writings,  their  shrewd  hu- 
mour, his  infinite  care  for  trifles,  the  gentleness  and 
clear-headed  sense  of  his  methods — they  are  amazing. 
It  is  no  answer,  to  say  that  Pare  was  ignorant,  super- 
stitious, credulous,  bound  hand  and  foot  by  medi- 
jeval  imagination  and  tradition.  Truly  his  theories 
and  explanations  are  childish,  and  his  ignorance  of 
things  not  yet  discovered  is  as  profound  as  our  own : 
but  put  Ambroise  on  one  side  of  the  patient's  bed, 
and  a  surgeon  of  our  own  day,  single-handed,  on  the 
other :  you  will  not  find  the  balance  of  insight  and 
practicality  against  Ambroise. 

For  example,  we  have  various  meat  extracts  and 
essences  ready-made  in  tins.  Contrast  with  these 
the  following  advice  for  what  he  calls  a  restorative 
draught : 

"  Take  of  veal,  mutton,  kid,  capon,  fowls,  fat  fowls, 
partridges,  pheasants,  as  much  as  shall  seem  good  to  you, 
well  minced  together  :  and  to  diminish  their  heating 
qualities,  add  a  handful  of  soaked  barley,  a  handful  of 
red  roses,  dry  or  fresh,  first  steeped  in  juice  of  pome- 
granates, citrons,  and  rose-water,  and  a  little  canella- 
bark.  ,  .  .  Put  them  in  thin  layers  in  a  glass  vessel, 
and  distil  them  in  a  bain-Marie,  or  over  cinders  or  hot 
sand  :  renewing  the  water  over  them  from  time  to  time, 
and  leaving  them  to  infuse.     .     .     .     Strain  through  a 


232  Ambroise  Pare 


fine  sieve,  and  flavour  with  sugar  and  canella,  adding  a 
little  citron-juice,  or  verjuice,  or  vinegar,  to  suit  the 
patient's  taste." 

Again,  we  do  not  greatly  trouble  over  matters  of 
diet ;  we  value,  perhaps  too  highly,  the  simplicities 
of  beef-tea  and  barley-water,  fish  and  custard  pudding. 
Pare  has  a  thousand  devices  against  this  monotone 
of  nourishment.  Here  is  his  dietary  for  a  case  of 
fractured  skull : 

"  Hippocrates  wholly  forbids  wine  :  but  instead  of  it 
he  shall  drink  barley-water,  or  boiled  water  with  a  little 
bread  in  it,  or  hippocras  made  with  water,  or  boiled 
water  with  syrup  of  roses  or  violets,  or  acid,  or  boiled 
water  sugared,  with  lemon  or  citron  juice.  .  .  ,  He 
may  eat  panada,  soaked  barley,  cooked  Damas  plums, 
Damas  raisins  preserved  with  a  little  sugar  and  canella 
(particularly  good  for  comforting  the  stomach  and  re- 
freshing the  spirits)  :  and  sometimes  a  small  fowl,  a 
pigeon,  veal,  kid,  leverets,  little  field-birds,  pheasants, 
larks,  turtledoves,  partridges,  thrushes,  and  other  good 
meats  boiled  Avith  lettuce,  sorrel,  purslain,  borage, 
bugloss,  chicory,  endive,  and  the  like.  Or  sometimes 
these  meats  ma)'-  be  roasted  :  and  then  he  may  have  with 
them  verjuice,  oranges,  citrons,  lemons,  sharp  pomegran- 
ates, sorrel-juice,  changing  them  according  to  the  pa- 
tient's taste  and  the  length  of  his  purse.  If  he  desire 
fish,  then  trout,  loach,  and  pike  from  clear  waters,  not 
muddy,  with  raisins,  Damas  plums,  sharp  cherries  :  but 
he  must  avoid  cabbages  and  all  leguminous  vegetables, 
because  they  trouble  the  head.  And  after  dinner,  com- 
mon sweetmeats,  or  annis,  fennel,  coriander  comfits, 
conserve  of  roses,  or  quince  marmalade."     .     .     . 


Opera  Omnia  233 

Again,  there  were  no  skilled  nurses  in  Ambroise 
Park's  time :  when  Charles  IX.  lay  dying  of  phthisis, 
haunted  by  terrors,  the  old  Huguenot  nurse,  the 
"  family  nurse,"  settled  herself  to  sleep  on  the  big 
carved  chest  in  the  King's  bedroom.  Pare  was  sin- 
gle-handed :  as  he  says  in  the  Journey  to  Germany, 
"  I  did  my  patient  the  office  of  physician,  surgeon, 
apothecary,  and  cook."  The  indefatigable  neatness 
and  minute  finish  of  his  work  never  failed  him. 
Take  his  rules  for  bandaging ;  the  bandages  must  be 
made  of  old  linen  already  used,  that  they  may  be 
soft  and  phable  ;  they  must  be  of  the  right  length, 
not  hemmed  or  stitched,  without  lace  or  seam,  clean, 
cut  longways  and  not  across,  of  the  right  strength  : 
the  knot  must  come  where  it  will  not  be  felt,  the 
ends  must  be  turned  in  :  "  the  surgeon  must  consider 
to  what  end  the  bandaging  was  done,  and  whether 
he  has  done  it  well  and  properly,  as  also  with  neat- 
ness and  elegance,  to  the  satisfaction  of  himself  and 
the  beholders." 

Or  take  the  following  rules  for  the  comfort  of  his 
patients.  If  the  room  be  too  hot,  and  the  windows 
may  not  be  opened,  sprinkle  the  floor  with  water  and 
oxycrate,  and  strew  it  with  twigs  of  willow  and  vine. 
If  a  plain  bath,  as  opposed  to  a  medicinal  bath,  be 
prescribed,  then  plain  warm  water,  wherein  the 
flowers  of   violets  and  of  water-lilies,  willow-leaves 


234  Ambroise  Pare 


and  barley,  have  been  boiled,  will  be  sufficient.  In 
time  of  plague,  open  your  windows  to  the  North  and 
East,  shut  them  to  the  West :  kindle  a  clear  fire  in 
every  living-room  in  the  house,  and  perfume  the 
whole  house  with  frankincense,  myrrh,  benzoin, 
labdanum,  styrax,  roses,  myrtle,  lavender,  rosemary, 
sage,  savory,  wild  thyme,  marjoram,  broom,  fir-cones, 
pine-wood,  juniper,  cloves,  perfumes;  and  let  your 
clothes  be  dried  in  the  same.  It  is  indeed  the  plague 
that  shows  most  clearly  his  skill  in  practice.  Or,  if 
we  wish  to  see  how  he  could  concentrate  on  a  single 
case  the  whole  of  his  strength,  there  is  the  story  of 
the  Journey  to  Flanders,  how  he  saved  the  life  of  the 
Marquis  d'  Auret :  a  magnificent  example  of  good 
surgery. 

The  work  itself  that  he  did  in  this  fine  spirit  must 
be  studied  by  surgeons  in  his  collected  writings  ;  and 
no  technical  account  of  it  here  would  be  of  value  or 
in  place.  Many  of  his  operations  have  in  these  lat- 
ter days  come  again  into  practice,  and  have  been  put 
to  the  credit  of  modern  surgery.  And  every  bit  of 
his  work  bore  the  naked  impress  of  his  character — 
the  same  insight,  diligence,  and  single-handed  mas- 
tery of  the  case  :  all  through  his  life,  he  gave  the  lie 
to  that  old  saying  that  the  Frenchman  cures  the  dis- 
ease, but  the  Englishman  cures  the  patient.  Next, 
comes  the  question,  what  were  the  limitations  and 


Opera  Omnia  235 

the  faults  of  his  work?  How  wide  is  the  gulf  be- 
tween him  and  modern  surgeons?  He  had  no  know- 
ledge of  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  or  of  the 
absorbent  system :  no  anaesthetics,  no  antiseptics, 
no  bacteriology :  his  understanding  of  the  nervous 
system  was  not  in  advance  of  his  times,  and  he  had 
neither  microscope  nor  stethoscope  nor  thermometer. 
Other  things  also  stood  between  him  and  accurate 
pathology. 

(i)  He  believed,  though  without  much  care  for  the 
matter,  that  the  stars  influence  the  course  of  disease. 
He  says  of  the  operation  for  cataract,  "  You  must 
choose  a  proper  time  for  it,  when  the  moon  is  on  the 
wane,  and  not  any  time  of  lightning  or  thunder, 
and  not  when  the  sim  is  in  A  vies,  which  has  dominion 
over  the  Jiead'' ;  but  he  only  added  these  last  words 
in  the  second  edition  of  his  works,  1579.  There  is 
no  evidence  that  he  followed  astrology,  though  the 
rage  for  it  was  so  strong  in  Paris  in  his  old  age.  Fie 
believed  the  moon  affected  human  life ;  but  only  as 
do  the  sun  and  the  east  wind.  And  where  he  speaks 
of  the  change  of  type,  or  involution,  of  a  disease,  he 
throws  over  the  astrologers  altogether.  "  Astrolo- 
gers think  the  cause  of  it  to  be  that  the  celestial  in- 
fluences, by  the  contrary  revolutions  of  the  stars, 
lose  their  power  and  become  weak.  But  physicians 
had  rather  take  to  themselves  the  glory,  that  this 


236  Ambroise  Pare 


disease  is  become  less  furious,  and  refev  it  to  the 
many  v/holesome  means  which  have  be'er,  invented, 
used,  and  opposed  to  it  by  the  happy  labours  of 
noble  minds." 

(2)  He  believed  that  the  plague  came  of  itself,  by 
the  Divine  will,  apart  from  nature,  He  doe?  not 
wholly  ignore  the  philosophical  d/^ctrines  of  first 
causes  and  second  causes,  but  they  have  no  interest 
for  him.  His  only  concern  is  to  believe  and  prove, 
from  Scripture  and  from  Hippocrates,  that  the 
plague  is  sent  to  punish  men  for  their  sins.  In  a 
recent  account  of  the  plague,  its  variations  in  inten- 
sity of  virulence  are  said  to  be  "  phenomena  which 
have  to  be  regarded  as  indicative  of  a  secular  evolu- 
tion of  morbid  changes." 

(3)  He  lived  when  all  men  believed  in  spontane- 
ous generation  ;  a  belief  which  died  hard,  not  many 
years  ago.  It  was  a  common  thing  in  his  time  for 
maggots  to  breed  in  a  wound.  He  notes  it  not  only 
in  the  army,  but  even  in  his  private  practice : 

"  What  wonder  was  it,  if  in  these  late  civil  wars  the 
wounds  have  caused  so  many  grievous  accidents,  and 
lastly  death  itself  ?  Especially  since  the  air  encompass- 
ing us,  tainted  with  putrefaction,  corrupts  and  defiles 
the  wounds,  and  the  body  and  the  humours  are  already 
disposed  or  inclined  to  putrefaction.  There  came  such 
a  stench  from  these  wounds,  when  they  were  dressed, 
that  the  bystanders  could  scarce  endure  it.     Nor  could 


Opera  Omnia  237 

this  be  attributed  to  the  want  of  dressing,  or  the  fault  of 
the  surgeon,  for  the  wounds  of  the  princes  and  the  no- 
bility stank  as  ill  as  those  of  the  common  soldiers.  And 
the  corruption  was  such  that  if  any  chanced  to  be  left 
without  dressing  for  one  day — which  sometimes  hap- 
pened with  such  a  multitude  of  wounded — next  day  the 
wound  would  be  full  of  worms.  Many  also  had  abscesses 
in  parts  opposite  to  their  wounds  ;  which  I  remember 
befel  the  King  of  Navarre,  the  Due  de  Nevers,  and 
sundry  others." 

With  this  terror  of  the  powers  of  the  air,  it  is  no 
wonder  that  he  sometimes  despaired  of  getting  good 
results  in  military  surgery.  "  If  things  went  wrong, 
owing  to  this  great  malignancy  of  the  wounds  in  the 
civil  wars,  the  surgeon  was  not  to  be  blamed,  for  it 
were  a  sin  to  fight  against  God,  and  the  air,  wherein 
are  the  hidden  scourges  of  Divine  justice."  There 
was  the  same  frightful  mortality,  the  same  fear  of 
the  air,  two  hundred  years  after  Fare's  time,  in  his  old 
hospital.  And  with  the  air,  he  included  the  time 
of  year,  the  condition  of  the  soil,  the  locality,  the 
weather ;  to  all  these  things  he  paid  heed  :  he  had 
no  great  dread  of  pure  air,  save  lest  it  should  give 
the  patient  cold.  For  this  reason  he  advises  that 
when  a  wound  of  the  head  is  dressed  a  chafing-dish 
or  a  hot  iron  should  be  held  near  it,  that  the  air  and 
the  wound  may  be  gently  warmed. 

(4)  He  believed  in  the  devil,  evil  spirits,  sorcery, 


238  Ambrolse  Pare 


and  witchcraft ;  that  the  devil  and  his  angels  were 
permitted  to  plague  men  with  diseases,  to  put  for- 
eign bodies  inside  them,  to  possess  and  enslave  them. 
Magicians  and  sorcerers  sold  themselves  to  devils, 
and  got  power  from  them.  There  were  devils  in  the 
air,  and  underground  in  mines.  All  this,  and  more 
like  it,  he  firmly  believed,  on  the  authority  of  Scrip- 
ture, history,  and  his  own  eyes.  He  is  not  clear  how 
far  the  works  of  the  devil  and  of  devils  are  material, 
how  far  they  are  illusions  inflicted  on  man's  senses ; 
and  in  his  old  age  he  was  still  uncertain  on  this 
point : 

"  Not  long  ago,  in  the  presence  of  King  Charles  IX., 
and  MM.  de  Montmorency,  de  Retz,  de  Lussac,  and  M. 
de  Mazille,  first  physician  to  the  King,  and  M.  de  Saint 
Pris,  valet-de-chambre  in  ordinary  to  the  King,  I  saw  a 
certain  impostor  and  enchanter  do  many  things  which 
are  impossible  for  men  to  do  without  the  subtlety  of  the 
Devil,  who  deceives  our  vision,  and  makes  us  see  some- 
thing false  and  fantastic  ;  which  this  impostor  freely  con- 
fessed to  the  King,  that  what  he  did  was  by  the  subtlety 
of  a  spirit,  and  he  had  to  be  enslaved  to  him  for  yet 
three  years  longer,  and  was  sore  tormented  by  him.  And 
he  promised  the  King,  when  this  time  was  come  and  over, 
he  would  be  an  honest  man.  God  forgive  him,  for  it  is 
written,  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live.  King  Saul 
was  cruelly  punished,  because  he  sought  counsel  of  the 
witch  of  Endor  ;  likewise  Moses  commanded  the  Jews  to 
exterminate  all  sorcerers." 


opera  Omnia  239 

He  attended  one  or  two  cases  of  possession :  he 
did  not  use  exorcism,  but  followed  what  we  may 
call  an  expectant  line  of  treatment. 

White  magic,  the  popular  use  of  spells,  charms, 
amulets,  and  the  like,  he  mostly  derided  and  de- 
spised ;  he  admits  it  can  cure  diseases,  but  it  is  a 
false  and  palliative  sort  of  cure  at  the  best : 

"  I  have  seen  the  jaundice,  all  over  the  body,  disappear 
in  a  night,  because  they  hung  a  little  sentence  round  the 
patient's  neck  ;  I  have  seen  fevers  cured  by  words  and 
ceremonies  ;  but  they  came  back  again  worse  than  ever. 
.  .  .  They  say  it  cures  a  quartan  fever,  if  the  patient 
drinks  wine  stirred  with  a  sword  that  has  cut  off  a  man's 
head  ;  if  this  were  true,  the  Paris  headsman  would  be 
better  off  than  he  is.  .  .  .  A  rope  that  has  hanged  a 
man,  tied  round  your  forehead,  cures  the  headache  :  it 
is  pleasant  to  know  this  way  of  practising  medicine." 

He  quotes  a  multitude  of  quaint  charms  and  spells, 
but  says  they  are  foolish  nonsense  ;  being  especially 
sore  against  them,  because  they  were  opposed  alike 
to  religion  and  to  the  honest  practice  of  medicine. 

(5)  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  power  of  the 
saints  to  cure  diseases ;  and  this  belief  he  justifies, 
oddly  enough,  by  appealing  to  Hippocrates.  "  They 
do  not  send  diseases  upon  us,  but  these  diseases, 
sent  on  us  by  the  just  judgment  of  God,  are  cured 
by  their  means.  And  herein  I  have  written  as  a 
surgeon,  following   the  doctrine   of   divine   Hippo- 


240  Ambroise  Pare 


crates,  in  his  book  De  Morbis  Sacris,  who  says  those 
who  beHeve  the  saints  send  diseases  on  us  are  miser- 
able men,  deceivers,  wicked  ;  not  that  he  denies  these 
diseases  are  cured  by  their  power  and  means."  (1575). 
(6)  He  beheved  in  the  royal  touch  for  the  king's 
evil : 

"  It  is  known  and  affirmed  by  all  men,  that  the  Kings 
of  France  have  this  power  of  healing.  I  have  seen  it,  an 
infinite  number  of  times,  and  I  said  nothing  of  it  in  my 
book,  because  it  is  a  thing  familiar  to  everybody.  I 
could  prove,  by  the  evidence  of  many  in  this  city,  men 
of  good  repute,  what  authority  I  attribute  to  this  gift  of 
grace  granted  to  the  Kings  of  France  by  the  loving  kind- 
ness of  God,  having  sent  them  to  the  King,  and  used  all 
my  influence  to  get  them  admitted  to  him,  seeing  there 
was  no  help  for  them  from  remedies  of  man's  making." 
(1575)- 

But  in  practice,  some  of  his  operations  and  meth- 
ods were  curiously  modern.  He  understood  and 
practised  what  we  now  call  massage  ;  he  had  a  good 
way  of  producing  local  ansesthesia  ;  he  was  opposed 
to  immoderate  bleeding;  he  knew  the  value  of  rest 
and  of  silence  for  his  patients.  He  says,  for  instance, 
of  wounds  of  the  head,  "  The  patient  must  be  in  a 
place  of  rest,  as  far  from  loud  noise  as  possible,  far 
from  church  bells,  not  near  a  farrier's,  cooper's,  car- 
penter's, or  armourer's  shop,  or  the  traffic  of  carts  or 
the  like,  because  noise    increases    pain,  fever,  and 


Opera  Omnia  241 

other  complications."     Yet  still  in   London  we  see 
hospitals  built  straight  on  to  the  main  road. 

Of  the  two  discoveries  which  all  men  know  that 
he  made,  the  story  of  the  first  is  told  in  the  Journey 
to  Turin.  The  second,  the  use  of  the  ligature  in 
amputation-wounds,  was  probably  made  at  or  about 
the  time  of  the  Journey  to  DanviUiers.  He  recom- 
mends good  threads,  two  together — l?on  fil  qui  soit 
en  double — and  a  catch-forceps  such  as  is  now  used 
by  surgeons.     Then  comes  the  famous  passage  : 

"  Here  I  confess  freely  and  with  deep  regret  that  for- 
merly I  practised  not  this  method  but  another.  Remem- 
ber, I  had  seen  it  done  by  those  to  whom  these 
operations  were  entrusted.  So  soon  as  the  limb  was 
removed,  they  would  use  many  cauteries,  both  actual 
and  potential,  to  stop  the  flow  of  blood,  a  thing  very 
horrible  and  cruel  in  the  mere  telling.  .  .  .  And 
truly  of  six  thus  cruelly  treated  scarce  two  ever  escaped, 
and  even  these  were  long  ill,  and  the  wounds  thus 
burned  were  slow  to  heal,  because  the  burning  caused 
such  vehement  pains  that  they  fell  into  fever,  convul- 
sions, and  other  mortal  accidents  ;  in  most  of  them, 
moreover,  when  the  scar  fell  off,  there  came  fresh  bleed- 
ing, which  must  again  be  staunched  with  the  cauteries, 
which,  thus  repeated,  consumed  a  great  quantity  of  flesh 
and  other  nervous  parts.  By  which  loss  the  bones  re- 
mained long  afterward  bare  and  exposed,  so  that,  for 
many,  healing  was  impossible  ;  and  they  had  an  ulcer 
there  to  the  end  of  their  lives,  which  prevented  them  from 

having  an  artificial  limb.    Therefore  I  counsel  the  young 
16 


242  Ambrolse  Pare 


surgeon  to  leave  such  cruelty  and  inhumanity,  and  fol- 
low my  method  of  practice,  which  it  pleased  God  to 
teach  me,  without  I  had  ever  seen  it  done  in  any  case, 
no,  nor  read  of  it." 

He  had  often  used  the  ligature  to  vessels  bleeding 
in  an  ordinary  wound  ;  this  method  was  as  old  as  Ga- 
len. When  it  came  to  his  thoughts  that  he  might  use 
it  in  amputation-wounds,  he  conferred  with  Estienne 
de  La  Riviere  and  other  Paris  surgeons,  and  they 
agreed  together  to  make  trial  of  it,  having  the  cau- 
teries ready  to  hand,  in  case  the  ligature  should  fail. 


To  know  Ambroise  Par6  from  his  books,  it  is  not 
enough  to  quote  passages  from  them  ;  their  sequence 
must  be  noted,  his  reasons  for  writing  them,  and  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  were  published. 
Malgaigne  gives  many  facts  about  them,  which  can- 
not all  be  put  here.     The  list  of  them  is  as  follows : 

1.  "  The  method  of  treatment  of  wounds  made  by 
arquebuses  and  other  firearms,  and  of  those  made 
by  arrows,  darts,  and  the  like ;  also  the  burns  made 
by  gunpowder.  By  Ambroise  Par^,  Master-barber, 
surgeon  at  Paris.  1545."  A  small  8vo  of  61  pages, 
dedicated  to  M.  le  Vicomte  de  Rohan.  Written  by 
the  advice  of  Sylvius. 

2.  "  A  short  compendium  of  the  chief  facts  of 
anatomy,  with  the  articulations  of  the  bones.     By 


opera  Omnia  243 

Ambroise  Pare,  Master-barber,  surgeon  at  Paris. 
1550."  With  a  treatise  on  obstetrics.  Small  8vo, 
96  pages,  dedicated  to  M.  de  Rohan.  This  book 
was  the  outcome  of  the  dissections  and  demonstra- 
tions made  by  Pare  and  Theodoric  de  H6ry  at  the 
School  of  Medicine,  for  the  physicians'  lectures  there. 
The  Advice  to  the  Reader  shows  the  strain  of  Park's 
life  at  this  time  : 

"  Dear  Reader,  I  would  have  you  know  that  when  I 
had  sent  this  book  to  press  I  was  compelled  to  go  to  the 
camp  at  Boulogne,  for  the  service  of  my  Lord  and  Master  ; 
and  in  my  absence  many  mistakes  have  been  made,  which 
I  have  corrected  with  the  pen,  to  save  you  trouble,  desir- 
ing your  advancement,  and  hoping  to  give  you  some- 
thing else  after  this,  God  helping  me.  Whom  I  pray  to 
enrich  us  with  His  grace."' 

3.  A  second  edition  of  the  book  on  gunshot 
wounds,  with  additions.  1551  and  1552.  8vo.,  80 
pages.  Dedicated  to  the  King.  In  the  Advice  to 
the  Reader,  he  says  that  the  tumult  of  the  wars  has 
prevented  him  from  properly  finishing  and  correct- 
ing the  book. 

4.  "  The  method  of  curing  wounds  and  fractures 
of  the  human  head  ;  with  illustrations  of  the  instru- 
ments necessary  for  their  cure.  By  M.  Ambroise 
Par6,  surgeon-in-ordinary  to  the  King,  sworn  sur- 
geon at    Paris.     1561."     With  a  portrait,   and   the 


244  Ambrolse  Pare 


motto,  "  Labor  improbus  omnia  vincit."  8vo,  226 
pages:  dedicated  to  Chapelain,  Pages  1-113  give 
the  anatomy  of  the  head ;  the  rest  of  the  book  is 
surgical.  The  case  of  Henri  II.  is  given  at  length; 
his  death  was  doubtless  the  occasion  of  the  book. 

5.  "  Universal  anatomy  of  the  human  body.  By 
Ambroise  Pare,  surgeon-in-ordinary  to  the  King, 
and  sworn  surgeon  at  Paris.  Revised  and  enlarged 
by  the  author  with  I.  Rostaing  du  Bignosc,  Pro- 
vencal, also  sworn  surgeon  at  Paris.  1561."  8vo., 
277  pages,  with  portrait  and  motto.  Dedicated  to 
the  King  of  Navarre.  This  book  was  the  outcome 
of  dissections  and  demonstrations  made  with  Ros- 
taing du  Bignosc  at  the  School  of  Medicine.  Many 
of  the  illustrations  were  taken  from  Vesalius. 

6.  "  Ten  Books  of  Surgery ;  with  the  set  of  in- 
struments necessary  for  it.  By  Ambroise  Pare, 
premier  surgeon  to  the  King,  and  sworn  surgeon 
at  Paris.  1568."  With  illustrations,  portrait,  and 
motto.     8vo.,   234  pages.     Dedicated  to  the  King. 

7.  "  Treatise  on  the  plague,  small-pox,  and 
measles ;  with  a  short  account  of  leprosy.  By 
Ambroise  Pare,  premier  surgeon  to  the  King,  and 
sworn  surgeon  at  Paris.  1568."  8vo.,  235  pages. 
Dedicated  to  Castellan.  Written  at  the  wish  of 
Catherine  de  Medici,  after  the  Royal  progress  to 
Bayonne. 


Opera  Omnia  245 

8.  "Five  Books  ot  Surgery,  1572."  No  copy  of 
this  book  is  now  to  be  found. 

9.  "  Two  Books  of  Surgery.  By  Ambroise  Par6, 
premier  surgeon  to  the  King,  and  sworn  surgeon 
at  Paris.  I573-"  8vo.,  519  pages,  with  portrait  and 
motto.     Dedicated  to  M.  le  Due  d'Uz^s. 

10.  "  Discourse  of  Ambroise  Par6,  councillor  and 
premier  surgeon  to  the  King,  on  mummy,  poisons, 
unicorn,  and  the  plague.  1582."  8vo.,  75  pages, 
with  portrait.     Dedicated  to  M.  des  Ursins. 

11.  Reply  of  Ambroise  Par6,  premier  surgeon  to 
the  King,  to  the  answer  made  against  his  discourse 
on  unicorn.     1584."     Quarto,  7  pages. 


Some  account  of  the  complete  editions  of  his  Col- 
lected Works  has  already  been  given.  After  his 
death,  the  rights  over  them  were  granted  to  his 
widow.  Eight  editions  in  all  were  published  at 
Paris;  then  five  editions  (1633-1685)  were  published 
at  Lyon  ;  inferior  in  every  way  to  the  Paris  editions, 
badly  printed,  corrupt.  His  works  have  been  trans- 
lated into  Latin,  English,  Dutch,  and  German ;  per- 
haps Itahan  also,  but  this  is  doubtful.  In  1840, 
Malgaigne  published  his  classical  edition  of  the 
Works,  restoring  the  text,  and  prefixing  to  it  a  long 
historical  and  critical  Introduction,  351  pages,  a 
masterpiece  of  learning  and  labour. 


246  Ambroise  Pare 


The  moral  of  Opera  Omnia  is  not  without  encour- 
agement for  "  the  young  surgeon,"  to  whom  Par6 
ever  addressed  himself.  He  did  not  publish  any- 
thing till  he  was  thirty-five  ;  his  first  two  books  were 
very  short,  and  there  was  an  interval  of  five  years 
between  them.  The  third  book  came  eleven  years 
after  the  second  ;  the  sum  of  his  published  works  is 
not  so  great  that  the  young  surgeon  should  despair. 

Yet  there  is  in  his  books  a  note  of  eagerness  and 
vehemence,  telling  that  he  did  not  take  things  leis- 
urely. He  cannot  finish  one  book  but  he  must 
promise  another.  "  If  I  hear  you  like  this  little 
work,  I  will  set  myself  to  do  something  else." — "  If 
I  learn  you  have  found  pleasure  and  profit  herein,  I 
promise  you  a  general  treatise  on  the  whole  of  sur- 
gery."— "  The  author  promises,  God  willing,  you  shall 
soon  see  other  of  his  works  on  surgery."  These 
sentences  come  in  the  prefaces  of  his  first,  fifth,  and 
seventh  books.  Certainly  he  worked  very  hard  ;  his 
output  for  1 561  was  two  books  of  500  pages  between 
them ;  a  year  busy  with  practice,  and  interrupted  by 
his  breaking  his   leg — a   bad    compound   fracture.* 

*  "  This  accident  befell  me  on  May  4,  1561  ;  witness  M.  Nestor, 
physician-regent  in  the  Faculty  of  Medicine,  and  Richard  Hubert 
and  Antoine  Portail,  master  barber-surgeons  of  Paris,  men  of  good 
renown.  They  were  called,  and  I  with  them,  to  see  some  patients 
at  the  village  of  Bons-Hommes,  near  Paris.  It  happened  thus  : 
Having  to  cross  the  water,  and  trying  to  get  my  mare  into  the  ferry- 


opera  Omnia  247 

Moreover,  he  lived  a  double  life  :  with  the  army  in 
times  of  war,  at  Paris  in  the  intervals  of  peace ;  and 
these  two  lives  must  be  multiplied  together,  to  find 
the  full  strength  of  his  character. 

boat,  I  switched  her  behind,  and  the  brute  gave  me  such  a  kick  that 
she  broke  both  bones  of  the  left  leg,  four  fingers'  breadth  above  the 
ankle.  Having  received  the  blow,  and  fearing  she  would  have  at  me 
again,  I  went  back  a  step,  but  fell  down  at  once,  and  the  broken 
bones  stuck  out  through  my  flesh,  my  stocking,  and  my  boot ;  whereat 
I  felt  such  pain  that  in  my  judgment  it  is  not  possible  for  a  man  to 
endure  more  without  dying  of  it.  My  bones  thus  broken,  and  the 
foot  displaced,  I  greatly  feared  the  leg  must  be  cut  off,  to  save  my 
life  ;  wherefore  turning  my  eyes  and  my  thoughts  to  Heaven,  I  in- 
voked the  name  of  God,  and  prayed  Him  of  His  goodness  to  be  will- 
ing to  help  me  in  my  extreme  necessity.  Forthwith  I  was  put  in  the 
boat,  to  take  me  across  the  water  to  get  my  wound  dressed  ;  but  the 
movement  of  it  almost  killed  me.  .  .  .  Then  I  was  taken  to  a 
house  in  the  village,  with  even  worse  pain  than  I  had  endured  on  the 
boat :  for  one  took  my  body,  another  the  leg,  and  another  the  foot ; 
and  on  the  way  one  took  me  to  the  left,  another  to  the  right.  .  .  . 
They  dressed  me  with  such  applications  as  we  could  get  in  the  vil- 
lage :  applying  to  the  wound  white  of  egg,  flour,  soot  from  the  chim- 
ney, and  fresh  butter  melted.  I  prayed  Master  Hubert  to  treat  me 
as  one  wholly  unknown  to  him,  and  in  reducing  the  fracture  to  forget 
the  friendship  he  owed  me.     .     .     ." 


VII. 

SOME  ASPECTS  OF  PARC'S  LIFE. 

"  Generosity  he  lias,  such  as  is  possible  to  those  who  practise  an 
art,  never  to  those  who  drive  a  trade  ;  discretion,  tested  by  a  hundred 
secrets  ;  tact,  tried  in  a  thousand  embarrassments  ;  and  what  are  more 
important,  Heraclean  cheerfulness  and  courage.  So  it  is  that  he 
brings  air  and  cheer  into  the  sickroom,  and  often  enough,  though 
not  so  often  as  he  wishes,  brings  healing." — R.  L.  Stevenson. 


THERE  remain  some  aspects  of  Park's  life  which 
have  yet  to  be  noted.  From  the  beginning  of 
it  to  the  end,  he  had  good  health.  Till  he  was  a 
man,  he  lived  in  country  air  ;  and  his  father  and 
mother  were  not  too  poor  to  give  their  children 
decent  food  and  comfort.  A  healthy  simplicity  kept 
hold  of  him,  body  and  mind,  to  the  end  of  the  four- 
score years.  His  illnesses  were  but  accidents  in  a  busy 
life :  a  broken  leg,  a  bite  from  a  viper,  an  attack  of 
haematuria  after  posting  hard  across  France,  a  touch 
of  sciatica  from  sitting  in  a  draught,  working  at  night 
in  his  study.  Once  he  fainted,  standing  over  a  plague- 
stricken  patient ;  he  had  the  plague  himself,  late  in 

248 


COLLEGE  DE  CLUNY  :  RUE  DE  CLUNY. 

FROM  Martial's  "  ancien  paris." 


Some  Aspects  of  Park's  Life         249 


life,  and  pulled  through  it  with  a  scar  as  big  as  the 
palm  of  his  hand.  Except  the  toothache,  of  which 
he  writes  with  a  grievance,  this  is  the  whole  list  of 
his  maladies  :  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a  healthier  set 
of  complaints.  If  there  were  more,  we  should  know 
it ;  for  he  loved  to  teach  the  young  surgeon  by  tell- 
ing his  own  case. 

He  was  fond  of  good  wine  :  witness  that  great  cask 
of  wine,  bigger  than  a  pipe  of  Anjou,  that  he  got  at 
Metz  for  curing  M.  de  Magnane ;  "  and  he  told  me 
when  it  was  finished  he  would  send  me  another." 
But  it  is  evident  from  the  Journey  to  Flanders  that 
he  limited  himself,  and  did  not  exceed  his  rule.  It  is 
not  likely  that  he  smoked ;  he  was  fifty  years  old 
when  Jehan  Nicot  brought  tobacco  to  Paris.  He 
walked  or  rode  to  see  his  patients  ;  there  were  no  doc- 
tors' carriages  then.*  Blessed  with  a  country  bring- 
ing-up,  and  a  good  constitution,  he  stood  all  the 
hardship  of  war,  the  unwholesomeness  of  Paris,  the 
constant  pressure  of  work.  And  when  some  acci- 
dent or  some  chance  attack  of  illness  laid  him  on  his 
back,  he  treated  himself,  or  let  himself  be  treated, 
with  great  prudence  and  courage. 

*  When  he  first  came  to  Paris,  only  two  carriages  were  to  be  seen, 
belonging  to  the  Queen  and  to  Madame  d'Estampes.  Carriages  in- 
side Paris  were  prohibited  by  a  sumptuary  law  in  the  time  of  Charles 
IX.  Even  later  than  Pare's  death,  we  find  Henri  IV.  writing  to  Sully 
that  he  cannot  come  to  see  him,  because  the  Queen  is  uisng  the 
carriage. 


250  Ambroise  Par^ 


There  was  yet  another  occasion  of  sudden  illness, 
wherein  he  had  to  be  his  own  doctor : 

"  A-fter  the  taking  of  Rouen  (1562)  I  found  myself  at 
dinner  with  a  company  wherein  were  some  who  hated 
me  to  death  for  the  Religion  :  they  handed  me  some 
cabbages,  which  contained  either  corrosive  sublimate  or 
arsenic.  "With  the  first  mouthful,  I  felt  nothing  :  with 
the  second,  I  had  a  great  heat  and  burning,  and  great 
astringency  in  the  mouth  and  especially  at  the  back  of  it, 
and  the  foul  taste  of  the  good  drug.     .     .     ." 

He  at  once  treated  himself  in  the  right  way,  and 
was  none  the  worse.  Of  course  he  may  have  made 
a  mistake  ;  the  use  of  poison  was  so  common  that 
the  fear  of  it  was  everywhere  ;  or  some  fool  may 
have  thought  it  funny  to  put  the  surgeon's  drugs  in 
the  surgeon's  dinner.  At  any  rate,  he  believed  that 
poison  had  been  administered  to  him,  in  1562,  be- 
cause he  was,  or  Avas  supposed  to  be,  a  Huguenot. 
Thirteen  years  later,  and  three  years  after  the  massa- 
cre of  St.  Bartholomew's  Day,  in  the  warfare  over 
the  first  edition,  the  faculty  took  him  to  task  for  put- 
ting this  story  into  his  treatise  on  poisons.  Here  is 
his  answer,  1575  • 

"  ]\Iy  enemies  have  wickedly  chosen  to  drag  into  the 
matter  this  word  Religion,  to  make  me  hated  of  all  good 
men.  For  it  was  used  by  me,  not  to  glorify  myself  for 
having  followed  this  way  of  thinking,  but  lest  the  reader 
should  think  they  attempted  my  life  because  I  committed 


Some  Aspects  of  Pare 's  Life         251 


some  great  crime.  Still  less  did  I  use  it  to  show  that 
those  who  follow  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  of  Rome 
take  illicit  means  to  get  rid  of  their  enemies.  For  I 
hereby  declare,  and  it  is  absolutely  certain,  that  this 
poisoner  was  neither  of  the  one  religion  nor  of  the  other, 
but  only  a  libertine  without  fear  of  God." 

And  the  same  year,  in  the  Preface  to  the  first 
edition,  he  wrote: 

"  The  Surgeons  have  wished  to  make  me  odious  to 
the  powers  of  Church  and  State,  and  to  the  people  ;  they 
have  left  no  stone  unturned  to  make  me  stumble  if  they 
could." 

This  story  of  the  dinner  at  Rouen  brings  with  it 
the  old  unwelcome  question,  was  Pare  Catholic  or 
Huguenot  ?  I  will  endeavour  to  be  at  least  inoffens- 
ive over  it.  To  make  a  beginning  somewhere, 
boldly  plunging,  I  say  that  I  believe  he  was  more 
Catholic  than  Huguenot ;  that  religion,  for  him,  was 
not  Calvinism,  nor  the  sermons  of  Huguenot  minis- 
ters, nor  any  zeal  for  Protestant  tactics  ;  but  rather 
it  was  the  Bible,  and  the  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
as  set  forth  at  Saint  Andr6  des  Arcs,  at  whose  altar 
he  and  Jehanne  Mazelin  were  married.  Here  the 
children  were  baptised,  here  they  were  buried,  and 
their  mother  with  them  ;  and  he  was  to  lie  side  by 
side  with  them.  It  was  the  church  of  a  thousand 
memories,  and  within  a  stone's  throw  of  home  :  and 


252  Ambroise  Pare 


I  am  convinced  that  he  was  never  wholly  Huguenot, 
and  became  almost  wholly  Catholic  ;  not  only  for 
the  sake  of  safety,  but  because  he  was  loyal,  quiet, 
and  conservative :  a  man  who  heartily  disliked 
change,  self-will,  scepticism,  controversy,  politics, 
and  foreigners. 

Having  made  this  plunge,  I  submit  some  facts 
touching  Ambroise  in  his  relation  to  the  two  opposed 
parties  in  the  State  : 

(i)  In  1579,  ^^^  wrote  the  following  Advice  to  the 
Reader  at  the  end  of  his  treatise  on  the  plague.  I 
put  it  here  not  only  for  its  own  merits,  but  because 
it  shows  how  well  he  worked  with  the  Catholic 
clergy : 

"  Advice  to  the  Reader. 

"  The  Author  gives  the  following  little  admonition  to 
the  young  surgeon,  who  may  sometimes  find  himself  in 
places  where  there  are  neither  priests  nor  other  people 
of  the  Church  at  the  death-beds  of  the  poor  patients  ; 
as  I  saw  when  King  Charles  was  at  Lyon  (1574)  during 
the  great  mortality,  where  they  used  to  shut  up  a  surgeon 
in  the  rich  houses,  to  tend  those  within  that  were  plague- 
stricken  ;  so  that  they  could  not  be  helped  by  any  to 
console  them  in  the  extremity  of  Death.  The  said  sur- 
geon, having  been  instructed  by  this  little  admonition, 
will  be  able  to  serve  in  need  of  some  greater  cleric  than 
himself.  And  I  do  not  wish  here  to  pass  beyond  the 
bounds  of  my  calling,  but  only  to  help  the  poor  plague- 
patients  in  their  extremity  of  Death  : 


Some  Aspects  of  Pare  's  Life         253 


*'  Death  is  the  fear  of  the  rich, 
The  desire  of  the  poor, 
The  joy  of  the  wise, 
The  dread  of  the  wicked, 
End  of  all  miseries, 
And  beginning  of  life  eternal : 
Happy  to  the  elect, 
And  unhappy  to  the  reprobate." 

(2)  After  the  massacre  of  the  Huguenots,  the  cure 
of  Saint  Andre,  M.  Christofle  Orbry,  was  a  strong 
Leaguer,  furious  against  the  Reformed  Church. 

(3)  The  Reformation  came  late  to  France,  later 
still  to  Paris.  The  Huguenot  cause  was  weak  in 
Paris,  long  after  it  was  strong  in  the  provinces  ;  there 
were  massacres  of  Huguenots  in  the  country  towns, 
years  before  the  Saint  Bartholomew's  Day  in  Paris. 
The  date  of  the  first  Reformed  church  opened  in 
Paris  is  1555.  It  is  not  likely  that  Par6,  getting  on 
for  fifty,  would  leave  Saint  Andre  to  sit  under  a 
strange  Calvinist  preacher  in  a  brand-new  place  of 
worship. 

(4)  He  had  no  liking  for  theological  disputation. 
In  the  battle  of  the  first  edition,  the  faculty  de- 
clared he  had  said  something  wrong  about  predestin- 
ation.    Here  is  his  answer  to  them  (1575)  : 

'*  I  say  I  will  not  enter  into  the  holy  inner  chamber  of 
God,  and  it  is  not  for  me  to  settle  such  high  matters. 
Still,  if  there  be  rashness  in  what  I  have  declared,  you 
must  equally  accuse  M.  Saint  Paul  (i.  Cor.,  eh.  12)  of 
rashness,  from  whom  the  words  are  taken." 


254  Ambroise  Pare 


(5)  L'  Estoile  has  preserved  a  vast  store  of  epi- 
grams, skits,  satirical  verses,  and  the  like,  from  both 
parties.  Many  of  those  made  by  the  Huguenots  are 
veritable  triumphs  of  brutality  and  obscenity,  without 
parallel  on  the  Catholic  side.  Fare's  name  is  not 
once  mentioned,  either  for  good  or  for  evil,  by  either 
Catholic  or  Huguenot. 

These  suggestions  are  vague  and  disconnected : 
so  much  the  better :  he  himself  saw  the  chaos  of 
intrigues  and  interests,  the  plots  and  counter-plots, 
the  points  at  issue  all  confused  and  vague.  I  believe 
he  went  to  Mass,  he  and  Jehanne  together,  at  Saint 
Andre ;  and  I  believe  he  went  more  regularly  after 
1572-73,  not  only  because  it  was  dangerous  not  to 
go,  but  because  now  his  wife  and  children  were 
buried  there.  I  am  sure  he  went  neither  as  a 
"  secret  Huguenot,"  nor  "  as  hypocrite  and  not  as 
Catholic  "  :  nor  yet  to  follow  the  fashions,  like  the 
man  in  the  Huguenot  skit: 

"  Pour  suivre  le  monde  k  la  Messe 
Colin  pense  estre  homme  de  bien  : 
Pour  aller  souvent  a  confesse 
Colin  cuide  estre  homme  de  bien." 

Nor  did  he  make  cheap  allusions  to  the  house  of 
Rimmon  :  nor,  like  Conde  going  to  Mass  for  safety's 
sake,  the  year  after  the  Massacre,  did  he  "  show  him- 
self  in  such  difficulties  over  his  devotions  that  you 


Some  Aspects  of  Fare's  Life         255 


might  tell  he  was  not  a  good  Catholic,  crossing  hinn- 
self  at  all  sorts  of  odd  times." 

But  we  do  not  know  for  certain,  nor  is  it  our  busi- 
ness, whether  he  went  to  Mass.  At  least,  he  may- 
have  gone  partly  for  safety's  sake.  He  was  not  in 
danger  at  the  Court  ;  but  his  life  was  not  always  safe 
in  the  streets  and  slums  of  Paris  :  there  were  times 
after  the  Massacre  when  any  drunken  ruffian  might 
raise  the  cry  of  Huguenot  against  him.  Here,  to 
illustrate  this  peril,  are  two  entries  in  L'  Estoile's  jour- 
nal ;  the  first  of  them  comes  very  near  Par6  himself : 

(i)  "  May,  1578.  One  Mercier,  a  pedagogue,  was 
attacked  at  nine  o'clock  at  night,  in  his  house  near 
Saint  Andre  des  Arcs,  by  two  villains,  a  tinplate  worker 
called  Poccart,  and  a  tailor  called  Pierre  de  La  Rue,  who 
lives  at  the  corner  of  the  Pont  Saint  Michel.  They 
stabbed  him  and  threw  him  into  the  river  without  a 
shadow  of  justification.  The  account  given  by  these  two 
hirelings  of  the  League,  two  of  the  busiest  blackguards 
in  the  city,  was  that  the  poor  gentleman  was  a  heretic, 
therefore  they  put  him  to  death.  Whereas,  only  two 
days  before,  he  made  his  Easter  communion  in  his  parish 
church  of  Saint  Andre  des  Arcs,  and  took  the  Sacra- 
ment from  the  cure's  own  hands.  Mdme.  Seguier,  the 
President's  wife,  who  had  been  near  Mercier  at  the  com- 
munion, remined  M.  le  cure  of  this  *  :  he  answered  her, 

*  If  it  is  the  same  man  who  was  cure  of  Saint  Andre  two  years 
later,  then,  according  to  L'  Estoilc,  he  is  not  to  be  trusted.  In  1580, 
L'  Estoile  makes  the  following  note  :  "  This  year  died  in  Paris,  at 
her  house  on  the  Quai  des  A.ugustins,  Mdme.  de  Bisseaux,  a  wise  and 


256  Ambroise   Pare 


that  he  clearly  remembered  giving  the  Sacrament  to 
Mercier,  and  how  Mercier  was  close  to  her  at  the  table  ; 
but,  for  all  that,  Mercier  was  still  a  Huguenot,  as  they 
said  of  him,  and  had  received  the  communion  as  hypo- 
crite, not  as  Catholic."  The  widow  appealed  to  the 
magistrates  for  justice.  "  They  made  her  no  other  an- 
swer but  that  her  husband  had  been  a  dog  of  a  minister, 
and  if  she  said  anything  more  they  would  put  her  into  the 
river  in  a  sack." 

Pierre  de  La  Rue  was  connected  by  marriage  with 
Pare,  and  lived  within  a  stone's  throw  of  his  house ; 
Mercier  also  lived  close  by  ;  so  did  Mme.  de  Bis- 
seaux. 

(2)  "Saturday,  July  16,  1578.  One  Guitel,  of  Anjou, 
was  hanged,  and  his  body  burned  to  ashes,  on  the  Place 
de  Greve  ;  he  had  already  at  Angers  been  condemned 
to  be  burned  alive,  for  the  abominable  heretic  that  he 
was.  The  people  kept  shouting,  according  as  they  were 
made  to  believe  and  to  shout,  that  he  was  a  Calvinist  ; 
but  on  the  contrary,  he  was  a  real  Atheist,  as  he  showed 
plainly  at  his  execution,  where  he  pronounced  execrable 
blasphemies  against  God,  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  other 
articles  of  the  Christian  Faith,  which  all  men  believe 
alike,  as  much  the  Calvinists  as   the  Roman  Catholics. 

virtuous  lady,  and  one  of  the  Religion  ;  whereof  she  had  always 
made  profession.  Nevertheless  the  cure  of  Saint  Andre  des  Arcs, 
her  parish  church,  published  everywhere  the  contrary,  saying  that  he 
had  administered  all  the  Sacraments  to  her.  And  the  reason  was 
that  M.  de  Bisseaux,  her  husband,  fearing  the  times,  and  to  avoid 
scandal,  had  given  six  crowns  to  the  cure  to  say  this  and  declare  it 
everywhere." 


Some  Aspects  of  Fare's  Life         257 


But  the  evils  of  the  times  were  so  great,  and  the  minds 
of  the  common  people  so  poisoned  b)^  the  sorceries  of 
the  League,  that  all  criminals  were  Calvinists,  Heretics, 
Politicals,  or  Navarrists." 

Pare,  therefore,  might  be  in  danger  in  the  streets. 
He  was  safe  at  the  Court  and  in  society.  And  the 
attitude  that  the  Court  would  take  toward  him  is 
illustrated  by  the  stories  told  of  two  members  of 
the  household  with  whom  he  worked  :  Mazille  and 
the  old  nurse. 

Mazille  was  premier  physician  to  Henri  HI.  He 
died  in  1578,  and  his  property  went  to  the  Crown. 
The  King's  favourites  heard  that  he  had  died  with 
twenty  thousand  crowns  ready  money  in  the  house : 
they  ransacked  it  from  top  to  bottom,  and  found 
nothing;  at  all  events  they  found  so  little,  that  the 
King,  when  he  heard  of  it,  said  : 

"  I  am  very  glad  that  the  truth  is  known  about  him, 
and  that  I  myself  am  confirmed  in  the  good  opinion  I 
always  had  of  Mazille  :  whom  I  loved  and  trusted, 
though  he  was  a  bit  of  a  Huguenot  {ten  peu  Huguenot)  ; 
anyhow  he  was  more  faithful  to  my  service  than  many 
whom  I  see  at  the  Court  here,  who  abuse  him,  pretend- 
ing they  are  good  servants  and  great  Catholics." 

The  old   Huguenot   nurse  of   Charles  IX.,  "  ma 
mie,  ma  nourrice,"  must  have  been  an  odd  figure 
at  the  Court  ;  what  people  call  a  character.     That 
»7 


258  Ambroise  Pare 

story  of  her  advising  the  Queen-mother  to  give 
battle  to  the  Huguenots  at  Dreux : — "Well,  Ma- 
dame, if  nothing  will  satisfy  them,  they  must  be 
made  to  listen  to  reason  "  ;  it  is  like  Juliet's  old 
nurse  shaping  the  fates  of  the  houses  of  Capulet 
and  Montagu  ;  and  she  did  not  even  know  how  to 
nurse.  She  was  a  Huguenot,  and  the  young  King 
would  not  meddle  with  her  faith :  from  the  begin- 
ning of  his  life  to  the  end  of  it,  she  was  paid  to  be 
with  him :  the  life  and  training  of  the  King  himself 
were  put  in  the  hands  of  a  heretic. 


In  his  methods  of  work,  Ambroise  Par6  was  in 
some  ways  like  John  Hunter.  They  are  separated 
by  two  centuries,  by  all  the  differences  between  the 
Scotsman  and  the  Frenchman,  between  London  in 
the  time  of  George  HI.  and  Paris  under  the  House 
of  Valois  ;  this  diversity  only  emphasises  the  like- 
ness between  them,  as  surgeons.  They  both  of  them 
began  life  in  the  country  ;  they  saw  something  of  war, 
and  wrote  on  gunshot  wounds  ;  they  spent  the  money 
lavishly,  when  it  came  ;  they  were  great  lovers  of  ani- 
mals and  their  ways : 

"  I  kept  at  ray  house  a  great  quantity  of  sparrows' 
nests  in  earthen  pots  ;  and  when  the  young  ones  were 
fledged  and  of  fair  size,  I  had  the  whole  nest  taken 
down,  and  set  on  the  ground,  that  I  and  my  friends 


Some  Aspects  of  Park's  Life         259 


might  delight  ourselves  in  seeing  the  care  of  the  old 
birds  in  feeding  the  young  .  .  .  and  often  I  would 
make  trial  with  a  strange  sparrow  put  with  the  rest  of 
the  young  ones,  to  see  if  they  would  feed  the  stranger 
as  though  he  were  legitimate." 

And  Fa.r6  loved  the  collecting  of  specimens,  dis- 
secting them,  demonstrating  them  :  though  Hunter's 
magnificent  collection  is  far  beyond  anything  that 
Par6  dreamed  of.  Yet  Pare  was  diligent  at  the  same 
work ;  his  house  was  full  of  curiosities  of  natural  his- 
tory and  surgery  ;  he  gets  a  rare  specimen  of  disease, 
and  calls  together  sixteen  physicians  and  surgeons 
to  see  him  dissect  it ;  he  gets  a  dead  ostrich,  and 
makes  a  skeleton  of  it,  no  easy  matter  ;  he  keeps  the 
bullets  he  has  removed  ;  he  shows  odd  specimens  at 
Court. 

But  there  are  two  points  of  special  likeness  be- 
tween them  :  first,  the  constant  appeal  to  experi- 
ence ;  next,  the  love  of  questioning,  comparing 
notes,  getting  to  know  the  results  obtained  by  other 
men. 

Of  the  appeal  to  experience  and  experiment — 
Hunter's  "  Don't  think  ;  try  " — we  have  many  in- 
stances in  Park's  writings :  here  is  one  of  the  best : 

"  In  the  year  1538,  when  I  was  at  Turin,  surgeon  to 
the  late  M.  le  Mareschal  de  Montejan,  I  dressed  one  of 
his  pages,  who  was  struck  on  the  side  of  his  head  with  a 


26o  Ambroise  Pare 


stone  by  one  of  his  companions,  on  the  parietal  bone, 
with  fracture  and  depression  of  it ;  and  there  came  out 
of  the  wound  a  portion  of  the  brain,  of  the  size  of  half  a 
hazel-nut  or  thereabouts  :  which  so  soon  as  I  perceived 
I  said  the  wound  was  mortal.  Hereupon  came  a  young 
physician,  who  disputed  vehemently  against  me,  saying 
this  portion  of  the  brain  was  fat,  and  not  brain.  I  told 
him  to  keep  it  till  I  had  done  with  my  patient,  and  then 
he  should  see  I  was  right.  Having  dressed  the  page,  to 
prove  by  reason  and  experience  that  this  portion  of 
brain  could  not  be  fat,  I  told  him  first  that  fat  cannot  be 
formed  within  the  skull,  although  the  parts  be  cold  ;  for 
there  is  great  store  of  animal  spirits,  which  are  very  hot 
and  subtle,  together  with  the  multitude  of  vapours  raised 
from  all  parts  of  the  body  to  the  head  ;  which  things 
hinder  the  generation  of  fat.  And  for  experience,  in 
the  dissection  of  dead  bodies  one  never  sees  any  fat 
there.  None  the  less  he  kept  trying  to  gainsay  me  by 
constant  argument.  At  last  I  told  him  experiment 
should  decide  between  us.  If  it  were  fat,  it  would  float 
on  water,  and  would  melt  if  you  put  it  on  a  hot 
shovel."     .     .     . 

The  love  of  questioning,  of  learning  from  every- 
body, and  of  comparing  notes,  is  as  plainly  marked 
in  Park's  account  of  his  work  as  in  Hunter's  letters 
to  Jenner.  Nothing,  so  it  were  practical,  was  too 
small  for  Park's  notice  :  the  old  women's  homely 
remedies, — onions  to  a  burn,  onions  for  a  toothache, 
vinegar  for  weak  eyes  ;  the  rough  and  ready  treat- 
ment of  wounds  by  the  soldiers  ;  the  wonderful  drugs 
of  quacks,  the  sham  diseases  of  professional  beggars. 


Some  Aspects  of  Park's  Life        261 


He  is  sent  by  the  King  to  Nancy,  in  1575,  to  see 
Madame  la  Duchesse  de  Lorraine,  and  learns  from 
Nicolas  Piccart,  her  surgeon,  a  new  way  to  reduce  dis- 
locations of  the  shoulder  :  he  waits  two  years,  bribing 
and  cajoling,  to  get  the  prescription  for  an  ointment 
from  a  surgeon  at  Turin  ;  he  asks  questions  of  every- 
body :  "  On  the  journey  to  Bayonne,  which  I  made 
with  my  King  in  the  year  1565,  I  asked  the  physi- 
cians, surgeons,  and  barbers  in  all  the  towns  through 
which  we  passed,  where  the  plague  had  been,  what 
results  they  had  obtained  from  bleeding  in  cases  of 
plague,"  He  would  learn  even  of  quacks.  He  got  the 
prescription  for  a  caustic  paste,  his  "  velvet  cautery," 
from  an  arch-quack,  "  a  philosopher,  a  great  distiller 
of  the  quintessence  of  life,  a  quintessential  master  "  : 
to  whom  he  gave,  in  exchange,  enough  velvet  to 
make  him  a  pair  of  breeches.  Having  got  this  pre- 
scription under  promise  of  secrecy,  he  published  it. 
*'  And  if  any  should  urge  that  I  have  broken  my 
promise  to  this  alchymist,  I  answer  that  since  he  had 
sold  it  to  me  it  was  mine  ;  and  anyhow  I  think  I 
have  done  him  no  wrong ;  on  the  contrary,  he  and  I 
between  us  have  conferred  a  great  benefit  on  the 
public."  Of  these  quacks  or  empirics  he  has  many 
good  stories  ;  those,  for  instance,  who  promise  to 
insert  a  gold  plate  after  fracture  of  the  skull,  shape 
and  hammer  it  in  the  presence  of  the  patient  and  his 


262  Ambroise  Pare 


> 


friends,  and  then  slip  it  into  their  own  purses.  But 
he  only  disliked  a  quack  when  there  was  nothing  to 
be  learned  from  him  ;  and  he  is  not  above  quoting 
one  Doublet,  an  empiric,  to  confute  his  old  enemy 
Gourmelen. 

He  hated  with  all  his  heart  the  whole  confraternity 
of  beggars ;  he  saw,  in  his  old  age,  the  frightful 
rush  of  them  into  Paris  ;  stories  were  told  how  they 
poisoned  the  wells  and  set  fire  to  the  houses  :  their 
counterfeit  sores  and  deformities  were  abominable  to 
him.  For  those  who  lament,  as  Charles  Lamb  did, 
the  decay  of  beggars,  Ambroise's  chapters  on  the 
malingering  of  beggars  are  the  most  delightful  read- 
ing. There  was  the  woman  whom  Jehan  Pare  found 
begging  at  the  door  of  the  Huguenot  chapel  at  Vitry, 
on  a  Sunday,  with  a  counterfeit  ulcer  ;  and  so  she 
was  whipped  and  banished.  On  the  same  pitch,  a 
year  later,  was  another  beggar,  with  banner  and  tub 
and  castanets,  and  the  nucleus  of  a  subscription  set 
on  the  top  of  the  tub  ;  his  face  was  covered  with 
leprosy,  made  of  glue,  and  was  kept  of  a  livid  tint 
by  a  scarf  pulled  round  his  neck  half  throttling  him. 
He,  too,  was  unmasked  by  Jehan  Par6,  and  was 
whipped  through  the  town  on  three  successive  Satur- 
days, with  his  tub  and  castanets  hung  round  his 
neck  ;  the  third  whipping  killed  him  :  "  which  was 
no  great  loss  for  the  country."     There  was  the  big 


Some  Aspects  of  Pares  Life         26 


o 


stout  woman  who  was  so  misguided  as  to  display 
her  malady  to  Ambroise  himself  and  to  Dr.  Flesselles, 
as  they  were  waiting  for  dinner  at  Flesselles'  cottage 
at  Champigny ;  she  had  suffered  a  most  fatal  com- 
plication of  diseases  for  forty  years,  and  looked  none 
the  worse  for  it.  Flesselles,  in  his  wrath,  ran  at  her, 
knocked  her  down,  and  jumped  on  her  and  kicked 
her  till  she  pretended  to  be  dead ;  then  she  got  up 
and  ran  away.  There  was  another  stout  woman, 
thirty  or  thereabouts,  with  a  live  snake  inside  her ; 
whom  a  charitable  unmarried  lady  took  into  her  own 
house,  and  got  Ambroise,  Hollier  the  physician, 
and  Cheval  the  surgeon,  to  see  her.  Hollier  gave 
her  a  powerful  draught,  but  without  result.  When 
they  threatened  to  make  it  yet  more  powerful,  she 
went  off  that  evening,  packing  up  with  her  own 
clothes  some  that  belonged  to  the  charitable  lady ; 
and  six  days  later  Ambroise  saw  her  sitting  astride 
a  pack-horse  at  the  Porte  Montmartre,  in  very  low 
company  and  very  high  spirits. 

He  who  loves  good  reading,  but  is  not  a  member 
of  Park's  profession,  let  him  take  Malgaigne's  edition, 
and  read  the  chapters  on  beggars,  the  treatise  on  the 
plague,  and  the  Journeys  in  Diverse  Places.  But  he 
will  lose  half  the  goodness  of  them  if  he  reads  them 
only  as  history,  only  as  romance:  he  must  know 
Par6,  he  must  see  him  in  his  writings. 


264  Ambroise  Par^ 


As  for  his  faults,  Pare  puts  them  down  with  the 
ingenuous  readiness  of  a  child  writing  a  diary.  He 
was  proud  of  himself.  But  was  there  ever  a  more 
engaging  type  of  vanity  ?  Those  marginal  notes 
that  he  wrote  in  his  old  age  for  the  complete  editions 
of  his  works — Chariti  de  VAutheur.  .  .  .  Addresse 
de  r  Autheur  .  .  .  Tesmoinage  de  la  Dexterity  de 
VAutheur  .  .  .  Modestie  de  V Autheur — their  sim- 
plicity is  past  comprehension. 

The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  the  hard 
saying,  which  yet  he  did  not  include  in  all  the  good 
advice  which  he  gives  to  "the  young  surgeon": 
that  character,  in  the  long  run,  avails  more  than 
circumstances.  Ambroise  Park's  methods  are  anti- 
quated, his  theories  were  all  wrong,  his  books  are  the 
forgotten  treasures  of  a  few  great  libraries.  Our 
methods,  our  explanations,  will  also  be  superseded  ; 
our  books,  many  of  them,  will  not  even  be  treasured. 
He  has  kept  his  hold  for  three  centuries  on  men  by 
force  of  character,  and  by  that  alone. 


VIII. 

AMBROISE     PARC'S     ACCOUNT    OF    THE 
PLAGUE. 


"  Let  us  be  sure  that  the  evil  of  the  plague  would  be  much  less,  if 
we  had  help  and  consolation  one  from  another.  The  Tu7-k  has 
these  virtues  ;  and  we,  Christians  in  name,  take  no  count  of  them : 
as  if  we  could  thus  escape  out  of  God's  hands.  .  .  .  And  when 
it  shall  please  Him  to  take  us  from  the  world,  that  will  be  the  be- 
ginning of  our  greatest  happiness,  since  this  life  brings  with  it  an 
infinity  of  labour  and  sorrow,  and  here  we  are  well  nigh  buried  under 
things  that  fade  and  pass." — From  the  Book  of  the  Plague. 

FROM  Ambroise  Park's  account  of  the  plague  I 
have  taken  those  chapters  that  give  the  best 
picture  of  him  and  of  his  times.  The  Book  of  the 
Plague  was  first  published  in  1 568,  as  part  of  a 
larger  treatise :  and  was  included  in  the  first  edition 
of  Park's  collected  works.  This  present  year  1897 
has  witnessed  M.  Haffkine's  work  in  India,  and  the 
discovery  of  the  preventive  treatment  of  bubonic 
plague :  it  is  therefore  a  good  time  to  read  the  story 
of  a  like  disease  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  to 
see  what  Ambroise  Par6  thought  of  it. 

265 


266  Ambroise  Pare 


I.     Of  the  Plague  ix  General. 

The  plague  is  a  disease  coming  of  the  wrath  of 
God,  furious,  sudden,  swift,  monstrous,  dreadful, 
contagious,  terrible,  called  by  Galen  a  wild  beast, 
savage,  and  most  cruel ;  the  mortal  enemy  of  the  life 
of  men  and  of  diverse  sorts  of  beasts,  plants,  and 
trees.  The  ancients  called  it  Epidemic,  because  the 
whole  air  was  corrupt,  so  that  many  died  all  at  once 
in  this  or  that  part  of  the  world :  and  they  gave  the 
name  Endemic  to  a  disease  which  is  peculiar  and 
familiar  to  one  country,  as  the  king's  evil  in  Spain, 
the  goitre  in  Savoy,  the  leprosy  in  Guyenne  near 
Bordeaux,  that  is  called  Gahetz,  and  in  Low 
Brittany  Cacots,  and  the  lepers  are  called  Ladres 
blancs :  and  so  with  other  diseases  that  have  the 
master}^  over  other  countries.  The  plague  is  often 
attended  by  very  cruel,  pernicious  troubles  that 
daily  come  of  it :  such  as  fever,  buboes,  carbuncles, 
purpura,  dysentery,  delirium,  phrenzy,  gnawing 
pains  at  the  stomach,  palpitation  of  the  heart,  heavi- 
ness and  weariness  of  all  the  limbs,  deep  sleep,  and 
dulness  of  all  the  senses.  Some  have  a  burning 
heat  within  them,  and  are  cold  on  the  surface,  with 
restlessness,  difficulty  of  breathing,  frequent  vomit- 
ing, dysentery,  bleeding  from  the  nose  and  other 
parts  of  the  body;  their  appetite  is  gone,  they  are 
wholly  changed,  with  a  hard,  dry,  black  tongue,  a 


Fare's  Account  of  the  Plague         267 


horrible  pinched  look,  and  their  faces  pale  and 
leaden,  or  sometimes  red  and  inflamed,  with  general 
tremors,  and  spitting  of  blood,  and  many  other 
troubles ;  from  the  sudden  corruption  of  the  infected 
air,  and  the  evil  disposition  of  them  that  are  at- 
tacked. But  all  these  troubles  do  not  always  come 
at  once,  or  to  all  patients ;  and  some  have  more  of 
them  than  others :  so  that  one  hardly  sees  two  cases 
of  the  plague  that  are  alike,  for  they  differ  according 
to  the  different  effects  that  it  produces.  Which 
comes  of  the  variableness  of  the  poison,  the  ill-health 
and  general  condition  of  the  patients,  the  times  and 
seasons  of  the  year,  and  the  parts  of  the  body  that 
are  first  attacked  :  so  that  the  plague  is  not  always  of 
one  sort,  but  of  many  :  thus  there  are  many  names 
for  it — fievre  pestilente,  caqiiesangiie,  coqiielucJie, 
siiette,  trousse-galant,  bosse,  charbo7i,  pourpre,  and 
others,  that  I  shall  give  hereafter. 

The  essential  nature  of  the  poison  of  the  plague  is 
unknown,  and  past  all  explanation ;  so  that  we  may 
call  the  plague  a  fourth  kind  of  disease.  For  if  it 
were  a  simple  intemperature,  it  would  be  hot  or  cold, 
or  moist  or  dry,  or  compounded  of  these:  and  then 
it  would  be  cured  by  its  contraries,  by  their  mere 
qualities  of  hot,  cold,  dry,  moist,  or  by  an  admixture 
of  them.  If  it  were  an  incommodation,  that  is  to 
say  a  wrong  composition  of  parts,  it  would  be  in 


268  Ambroise  P 


are 


undue  conformation  or  figure,  or  in  number,  or 
magnitude,  or  position.  Again,  if  it  were  solution 
of  continuity,  there  would  be  erosion,  contusion,  in- 
cision, perforation,  laceration,  puncture,  or  rupture; 
all  which  things  would  be  healed  with  the  remedies 
given  to  us  by  the  ancients.  But  it  comes  not  only 
of  simple  corruption,  but  also  of  contagion  of  the 
infected  air,  past  all  words,  and  past  understanding; 
which  impresses  the  character  of  its  poison  on  a 
body  already  disposed  to  it. 

You  will  ask  how  a  surgeon  can  find  any  real  cure 
for  this  contagion,  since  the  cause  of  it  cannot  be 
known.  The  answer  must  be,  that  we  must  follow 
the  course  of  Nature.  For  this  poison,  which  goes 
straight  to  the  heart,  is  abhorrent  to  Nature :  there- 
fore she  sets  to  work,  and  endeavours  to  dislodge 
and  drive  to  the  surface  all  the  infected  material 
that  is  keeping  up  the  mischief,  whence  come  pesti- 
lential fevers,  carbuncles,  buboes,  purpura,  and 
other  troubles:  by  which  action  of  Nature,  the 
nobler  parts  of  the  body  are  much  relieved :  so  that 
the  patient  may  escape  and  be  safe,  if  all,  or  the 
greater  part,  can  be  thus  driven  outward  and  kept 
there.  And  the  physician  and  the  surgeon,  who  are 
ministers  and  coadjutors  of  Nature,  have  but  to  fol- 
low Nature's  course :  as  in  bringing  about  sweating 
and  vomiting  in  the  first  stage  of  the  disease,  and  in 


Pares  Account  of  the  Plague  269 


the  use  of  such  things  as  strengthen  the  heart,  and 
all  remedies  proved  good  against  putrefaction  and 
venenosity.  In  brief,  we  must  fortify  the  heart 
with  antidotes,  and  draw  to  the  surface  the  products 
of  the  disease,  and  treat  the  troubles  as  they  come, 
altering  our  remedies  according  to  them. 

Such  is  my  description  of  the  plague :  which  is 
never  universal,  nor  all  of  one  kind :  as  I  have  said 
already. 

2.     Of  the  Divine  Causes  of  the  Plague. 

It  is  a  thing  established  among  true  Christians,  to 
whom  the  Eternal  has  revealed  the  secrets  of  His 
wisdom,  that  the  plague,  and  other  diseases  common 
among  men,  come  from  the  hand  of  God ;  as  the 
prophet  teaches  us :  Shall  there  be  evil  in  a  city,  and 
the  Lord  hath  not  done  it  ?  We  should  always  be 
careful  to  think  of  this,  for  two  reasons.  First,  that 
we  may  see  how  all  our  life,  health,  movement,  and 
being,  come  directly  from  the  pure  goodness  of 
God,  who  is  the  Father  of  light :  so  that  we  may  be 
thankful  to  Him  for  His  gifts.  Next,  when  we 
know  that  these  afflictions  are  laid  on  us  by  God, 
we  are  in  the  right  way  to  understand  His  just  deal- 
ing with  our  sins,  and  to  humble  ourselves  like 
David  *  under  His  strong  hand,  keeping  our  souls 
♦  Voyez  a  ce  propos  le  Ps.  39.     A.  P. 


2/0  Ambrolse  Pare 


from  the  sin  of  rebellion :  that  being  raised  from  de- 
spair we  may  call  on  His  greatness  to  deliver  us 
from  all  evil  by  His  loving  kindness.  Thus  we  shall 
learn  to  seek  in  God  and  in  ourselves,  in  Heaven 
and  on  earth,  the  true  knowledge  of  the  causes  of 
the  plague  which  has  visited  us. 

And  since  divine  Philosophy  teaches  us  that  God 
is  the  beginning  and  first  cause  of  intermediate 
causes,  without  which  there  can  be  no  action  of 
secondary  and  subordinate  causes,  so  these  are 
ordered  and  arranged  by  His  secret  will  and  design, 
who  uses  them  as  instruments  of  His  work  according 
to  His  unchangeable  decree  and  ordinance. 

But  we  must  not  simply  attribute  the  cause  of  the 
plague  to  immediate  causes,  like  the  Lucianists, 
Naturalists,  and  other  infidels;  remembering  that  as 
God  by  His  omnipotence  has  created  all  things  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  so  by  His  wisdom  He 
preserves,  restrains,  and  directs  all  things  as  it  seems 
good  to  Him,  and  often  He  even  changes  their  nat- 
ural course,  according  to  His  good  pleasure.  That 
is  why  the  Prophet  warns  us,  Learn  not  the  way  of 
the  heathen,  and  be  not  dismayed  at  the  signs  of 
heavefi ;  for  the  heathen  are  dismayed  at  them.  And 
let  no  man  be  so  bold  and  full  of  madness  as  to  wish 
to  hold  God  bound,  who  is  the  sovereign  cause  of 
all  things,  to  secondary  and  subordinate  causes,  or 


Park's  Account  of  the  Plague  271 


to  His  creatures,  or  to  that  first  disposition  that  He 
Himself  has  given  them :  which  would  rob  God  of 
this  title  of  Omnipotent,  and  take  from  Him  the 
freedom  henceforth  to  change  anything  and  order  it 
otherwise  than  He  has  ordered  it  in  the  beginning; 
as  though  He  could  be  subject  and  bound  by  the 
order  that  He  has  established,  and  unable  to  make 
a  new  disposition  of  things.*  For  whatever  order 
or  arrangement  God  may  have  put  in  Nature,  in  the 
course  of  the  seasons,  in  the  movement  of  the  stars 
and  the  planets,  yet  he  is  not  bound  or  subject  to 
anything  created :  for  He  works  and  accomplishes 
His  works  in  perfect  freedom,  and  is  in  no  way  sub- 
ject to  follow  the  order  that  He  has  established  in 
Nature.  But  if  He  wishes  to  punish  men  for  their 
sins,  that  they  may  see  His  justice ;  or  to  pour  bene- 
fits upon  them,  that  they  may  feel  His  goodness  as 
a  Father — He  without  difficulty  changes  this  order 
of  things  as  He  thinks  fit,  and  makes  it  serve  His 
will,  according  as  He  sees  good  and  just.  For  as,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  the  world,  by  the 
commandment  of  God,  the  earth  brought  forth 
grass,  and  trees  yielding  fruit,  and  the  sea  brought 
forth  fish,  and  there  was  light,  before  the  two  great 
lights,  the  sun  and  the  moon,  were  created,  to  teach 
us  that  it  is  the  Omnipotent,  who  alone  has  made 

*  This  phrase  was  added  in  1579. 


272  Ambroise  Pare 


all  things:  so,  after  the  government  of  the  creatures 
was  committed  to  the  sun  and  to  the  planets,  whence 
the  earth  and  all  things  on  it  receive  food  and  nour- 
ishment, we  know  how  Almighty  God  has  altered 
their  natural  course  for  the  good  and  profit  of  His 
Church.  Thus  we  read  that  the  Lord  went  before 
the  Israelites,  by  day  in  a  pillar  of  a  cloud,  to  lead 
them  the  way,  and  by  night  in  a  pillar  of  fire,  to 
give  them  light.  Also  the  sun  and  the  moon  were 
stayed,  and  changed  their  course,  at  the  prayer  of 
Joshua.  Also  by  the  prayer  of  Elijah  there  was  no 
rain  for  the  space  of  three  years  and  six  months. 
These  examples  make  it  plain  that  God  disposes  His 
creatures  according  to  His  good  pleasure,  both  for 
His  glory,  and  for  the  salvation  of  those  who  call  on 
Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

Now  as  the  Lord  employs  these  lower  things  to 
be  ministers  of  His  will  and  witnesses  of  His  grace 
to  those  who  fear  Him,  so  they  serve  Him  as  heralds 
and  executors  of  His  justice,  to  punish  the  iniquities 
and  offences  of  sinners  who  despise  His  majesty. 
In  a  word,  it  is  the  hand  of  God  that  by  His  just 
judgment  hurls  from  Heaven  this  plague  and  con- 
tagion, to  chastise  us  for  our  offences  and  iniquities, 
according  to  the  threat  contained  in  Scripture.  The 
Lord  speaks  thus,  /  will  bring  a  sword  upon  you, 
that  shall  avenge  the  quarrel  of  my  covenant :  and 


Fare's  Account  of  the  Plague  273 


when  ye  are  gathered  together  withi7t  your  cities,  I 
will  send  the  pestilence  amoftg  you  ;  and  ye  shall  be 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Read  also 
what  is  written  in  the  third  chapter  of  Habakkuk. 
The  Lord  of  Hosts  says,  Behold,  I  send  upon  them 
the  sword,  the  famine,  and  the  pestilence.  Likewise 
God  commanded  Moses  to  cast  into  the  air  a  certain 
powder,  in  the  presence  of  Pharaoh,  so  that  in  all 
the  land  of  Egypt  both  man  and  beast  should  be 
afflicted  with  pestilent  boils,  ulcers,  and  many 
other  diseases.  And  David  is  witness  to  this,  say- 
ing that  God  sent  upon  Egypt  flies  which  devoured 
their  land,  and  frogs  which  destroyed  them,  and 
gave  their  fruit  to  the  caterpillar,  and  their  labour 
to  the  grasshopper,  and  spoiled  their  vines  with  hail- 
stones, and  their  wild  fig-trees  with  the  storm :  and 
gave  their  cattle  to  the  hail,  and  their  flocks  to  the 
thunderbolt.  Afterward,  he  says.  He  made  a  way 
to  His  anger ;  He  spared  not  their  soul  from  death, 
but  gave  their  life  over  to  the  pestilence.  Also,  in 
Deuteronomy,  Moses  threatens  those  who  transgress 
the  law  of  God  with  many  curses,  and  among  others 
with  pestilence,  boils,  swellings,  and  fevers. 

And  the  one  example  of  David  shows  the  accom- 
plishment of  these  terrible  threats:  when  God,  for 
his  sin,  destroyed  seventy  thousand  men  with  the 
plague,  as  Scripture  is  witness.     The  prophet  Gad 

x8 


274  Ambroise  Pare 


was  sent  to  David  with  this  commandment  from 
God,  /  offer  thee  three  things ;  choose  thee  one  of 
them,  ayid  I  will  do  it.  Which  wilt  thou  have,  that 
seven  years  of  famine  come  upon  the  land,  or  that  for 
the  space  of  three  jnonths  thou  flee  before  thine  ene- 
mies, and  they  pursue  thee,  or  that  for  three  days  the 
pestilence  be  on  the  land?  Then  David  prays  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  God  rather  than  into  the 
hands  of  men :  for  His  mercies  are  great. 

And  if  any  one  should  say  that  the  people  did  not 
deserve  to  die  for  the  offence  of  their  king,  it  may 
be  answered  that  they  were  yet  more  wicked  than 
he :  for  God  preserved  David  for  the  honour  of  His 
holy  name.* 

We  read  also  that  the  Lord  punished  idolatry,  and 
profanation  of  His  service,  with  the  scourge  of  the 
pestilence.  For  He  speaks  thus.  Because  thou  hast 
defiled  my  holy  place  in  thy  infamies  aiid  abomina- 
tions, I  will  break  thee  also,  neither  shall  mine  eye 
spare,  nor  will  I  have  pity  on  thee :  for  the  third  part 
shall  die  of  pestilence. 

So  let  us  be  agreed  that  the  plague,  and  other 
dangerous  maladies,  are  evidence  of  the  wrath  of 
God  against  the  sins,  idolatries,  and  superstitions, 
which  reign  over  the  earth :  as  even  a  profane  author 
is  compelled  to  confess  that  there  is  something  divine 

*  This  sentence  was  added  in  1585. 


Pares  Account  of  the  Plague  275 


in  diseases.*  And,  when  it  pleases  the  Lord  of 
Lords,  and  Creator  of  all  things,  to  bring  His  just 
judgments  to  pass,  none  of  His  creatures  can  escape 
His  terrible  fury,  as  David  teaches  us: 

"  Les  cieux  fondirent  en  sueur  : 
La  terre  trembla  de  la  peur 
De  ta  face  terrible." 

How  then  will  it  be  with  us,  miserable  men,  who 
pass  away  like  the  snow  ?  How  shall  we  be  able  to 
stand  before  the  fire  of  the  wrath  of  God,  we  who 
are  as  hay  and  stubble,  and  our  days  vanish  like 
smoke  ?  Let  us  learn  to  leave  our  evil  ways  for  the 
pure  service  of  God,  not  imitating  those  insane 
patients,  who  bewail  the  heat  and  action  of  their 
fever,  yet  reject  the  medicine  given  to  cure  the 
cause  of  their  suffering.  Let  us  be  sure  that  our  best 
antidote  against  the  plague  is  the  conversion  and 
amendment  of  our  lives.  And  just  as  the  apothe- 
caries make  theriacum  of  the  flesh  of  snakes,  to  heal 
the  bite  of  a  venomous  animal,  so  from  the  cause  of 
our  diseases,  from  our  sins,  let  us  obtain  remedy  and 
healing,  looking  to  the  Son  of  God,  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord,  who  not  only  heals  the  body  of  its  infirmities 
and  diseases,  but  cleanses  the  soul  of  all  sin  and 
filth.  And  like  David  let  us  lament  and  acknowledge 

*  Hippocrates,  chap.  2,  du  i.  livre  des  Prognostiques.     A.  P. 


276  Ambroise  Pare 


our  sins,  praying  to  the  good  God  with  heart  and 
lips,  as  follows, 

"  Ne  vueille  pas,  6  Sire, 
Me  reprendre  en  ton  ire, 
Moy  qui  t'ay  irrite,"  etc. 

Such  is  the  first  and  most  important  consideration 
that  all  Christians  should  bear  in  mind,  when  we 
would  find  out  the  divine  causes  of  the  plague,  and 
the  precautions  that  we  must  take  for  the  cure  of  it. 
Furthermore,  I  warn  the  surgeon  not  to  neglect  the 
remedies  approved  by  physicians  both  ancient  and 
modern :  for  as  by  the  will  of  God  this  disease  is  sent 
among  men,  so  by  His  holy  will  He  gives  us  methods 
and  remedies,  to  use  them  as  instruments  for  His 
glory,  seeking  help  in  our  troubles  even  from  His 
creatures,  endowed  by  Him  with  certain  properties 
and  virtues  for  the  alleviation  of  poor  sufferers;  and 
it  is  His  will  that  we  should  use  these  secondary 
natural  causes  as  instruments  of  His  blessing,  or  we 
should  be  thankless  indeed,  and  blind  to  his  loving 
kindness.  For  it  is  written  that  the  Lord  has  given 
to  men  the  knowledge  of  the  art  of  medicine,  to  be 
glorified  in  His  marvellous  works.  Wherefore  we 
must  neglect  none  of  all  these  other  measures,  that 
shall  hereafter  be  described. 

Next,  we  must  enquire  into  the  natural  causes  and 
reasons  of  the  plague. 


Pares  Account  of  the  Plague  277 


3.  Of  the  Human  or  Natural  Causes  of  the 
Plague:  and  how  it  is  Sown  among 
Men  by  Infection  of  the  Air. 

There  are  two  natural  general  causes  of  the  plague  : 
one  is  the  infection  and  corruption  of  the  air,  the 
other  is  the  vitiation  of  the  humours  of  the  body,  so 
that  they  are  predisposed  to  take  the  plague  from 
the  air.  Which  is  proved  by  Galen :  who  says  that 
the  humours  of  the  body  can  become  corrupt  and 
acquire  venenosity. 

The  air  becomes  corrupt,  when  there  is  something 
excessive  in  the  seasons  of  the  year,  so  that  they  lose 
their  natural  constitution :  which  happens  when  the 
year,  almost  all  of  it,  has  been  wet  with  much  rain 
and  heavy  mists.  The  winter,  for  the  most  part, 
has  not  been  cold ;  the  spring,  also,  has  not  been  so 
cool  and  temperate  as  usual ;  and  in  the  autumn  are 
seen  in  the  skies  bright  flames,  shooting  stars,  and 
comets  of  diverse  shapes,  which  come  of  dry  exhala- 
tions. The  summer  is  hot,  and  the  wind  blows  only 
from  the  South,  and  so  gently  that  men  have  hardly 
felt  it,  have  only  noted  from  time  to  time  that  the 
clouds  were  driven  from  South  to  North.  These 
constitutions  of  the  seasons  are  described  by  Hip- 
pocrates in  the  first  book  of  the  Epidemics,  and  in 
the  third  book  of  the  Aphorisms:  and  they  make 


278  Ambroise  Pare 


the  air  altogether  pestilent.  Then  the  intempera- 
ture  of  the  air  predisposes  the  serous  humours  of  the 
body  to  corruption,  and  the  unnatural  heat  of  the 
air  burns  and  inflames  them.  But  all  unnatural  con- 
stitutions of  the  seasons  do  not  always  engender 
the  plague,  but  rather  other  epidemic  diseases. 

Sometimes  a  single  inhalation  of  the  infected  air 
from  a  case  of  plague  infects  every  member  of  the 
body.* 

Again,  the  air  becomes  corrupt  when  certain 
vapours — as  I  have  already  said — are  mixed  with  it : 
as  by  a  great  multitude  of  dead  bodies  kept  too  long 
above  ground,  men,  horses,  and  other  animals, 
making  a  tainted  and  putrid  vapour  which  infects 
the  air :  which  often  happens  after  a  battle,  or  after 
shipwreck,  when  the  waves  have  brought  many 
bodies  ashore :  or  when  the  sea  has  cast  up  heaps  of 
fish  and  other  creatures  that  were  swept  down  to  it 
by  floods,  killing  them,  for  they  cannot  live  in  salt 
water.  Sometimes  the  sea  leaves  great  quantities 
of  fish  high  and  dry,  when  the  gulfs  or  chasms  made 
under  it  by  earthquakes  become  filled  with  water, 
or  when  the  waves  throw  on  the  beach  great  fish 
that  have  come  up  out  of  the  deep:  and  not  long 
ago  a  whale  went  rotten  on  the  coast  of  Tuscany, 
and  brought  the  plague  over  the  whole  country. 
*  This  sentence  was  added  in  1585. 


Park's  Account  of  the  Plague  279 


Fish  also  (but  this  seldom  happens,  as  Aristotle 
says  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  the  History  of  Ani- 
mals )  *  may  be  infected  by  foul  exhalations  arising 
under  the  water  and  passing  through  it,  so  that 
they  feel  the  contagion  of  the  air  round  them  when 
they  come  to  the  surface.  For  these  reasons,  when 
the  plague  is  in  a  country,  many  fish  are  found  dead, 
mostly  in  ponds,  lakes,  and  sluggish  streams,  what 
we  call  sleeping  waters.  Which  does  not  happen  in 
the  sea:  for  its  violent  movement,  and  the  salt  in  it, 
keep  it  from  corruption :  so  that  the  fish  are  not  in- 
fected like  those  in  sleeping  waters. 

Again,  the  air  becomes  infected  by  foul  vapours 
from  lakes,  muddy  and  marshy  pools,  and  stagnant 
water  in  houses  where  there  are  pipes  and  drains 
underground,  and  the  water  does  not  flow  off,  and 
in  summer,  from  the  excessive  heat  of  the  sun,  it 
becomes  corrupt,  and  exhalations  arise  from  it. 
Thus  we  read  that  at  Padua  there  was  a  well  which 
had  long  been  kept  covered :  and  when  they  opened 
it,  which  was  in  summer,  such  putrid  exhalations 
came  out,  that  the  air  of  the  neighbourhood  was 
corrupted  through  and  through :  whence  arose  a 
marvellous  plague,  and  lasted  a  very  long  time,  and 
great  numbers  died  of  it. 

Again,  the  air  is  corrupted  by  the  fumes  and  ex- 

*  This  sentence  in  parentheses  was  added  in  1579. 


2  So  Ambroise   Pa.re 


halations  that  come  of  corrupt  infected  vapours  shut 
up  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  long  confined  and 
smothered  in  its  deep  dark  places,  and  then  set  free 
by  an  earthquake.  For  in  time  of  earthquake,  the 
waters  have  a  sulphurous  or  metallic  taste,  and  are 
hot  and  troubled  by  exhalations  from  the  disturbed 
and  shaken  earth.  Diverse  voices  are  heard,  like 
the  groans  of  men  dying  in  battle,  and  diverse  cries 
of  animals :  and  we  see  come  out  of  the  earth  many 
animals,  as  toads,  adders,  asps,  vipers,  and  other 
vermin.*  And  when  these  exhalations  are  let  loose, 
they  infect  not  only  men  and  other  animals,  but 
also  plants,  and  all  sorts  of  fruit  and  grain,  and 
everything  that  nourishes  us  if  and  as  the  troubled 
and  putrefied  waters  kill  the  fish  that  are  in  them, 
so  the  malignant  and  pestiferous  air  is  fatal  to  men, 
altering  the  spirits,  corrupting  the  humours,  and  at 
the  last  killing  them,  and  even  beasts  and  plants,  as 
I  have  said. 

And  there  are  those  cases  of  men  digging  wells, 
who  have  met  a  vapour  so  putrid  and  infected  that 
they  have  soon  died.  Only  a  short  time  ago,  in  the 
Faulxbourgs  Sainct  Honor6  here  in  Paris,  five 
healthy  young  men  died  of  cleaning  out  a  cesspool 

♦These  sentences,  from  "For  in  time  of"  to  "other  vermin," 
were  added  in  1579. 

f  La  paste  des  plantes  est  appellee  sideration,     A.  P. 


Fare's  Account  of  the  Plagfue  281 


where  the  ordure  from  some  pigstyes  had  long  been 
stagnant  without  exhalation :  and  men  had  to  fill 
the  hole  with  earth,  so  as  to  make  a  quick  end  of  it 
and  prevent  worse  disasters. 

A  like  thing  was  noted  of  old  time  by  the  philoso- 
pher Empedocles,  who  found  an  opening  in  the  earth, 
among  the  mountains,  whence  came  foul  vapours 
which  caused  the  plague;  and  he  had  it  blocked 
up,  and  so  he  drove  the  plague  out  of  Sicily. 

And  we  know  this  is  true,  from  the  infection  that 
came  of  dead  bodies  at  Chateau  de  Pene,  on  the 
river  Lot :  where  in  September,  1562,  during  the  first 
troubles  that  arose  out  of  the  Religion,  many  dead 
bodies  were  thrown  into  a  well  about  a  hundred 
fathoms  deep,  whence  two  months  later  issued  a 
putrid  cadaveric  vapour  which  spread  over  the 
whole  Agenois  country  and  the  places  around  for 
ten  leagues,  and  many  were  attacked  by  the  plague. 
Nor  is  this  strange,  seeing  that  the  wind  drives  the 
exhalations  and  putrid  fumes  from  one  country  into 
another,  and  in  this  way  too  we  see  the  plague  arise, 
as  I  have  said  already  in  the  first  Apologia.* 

Against  all  this  it  might  be  said  that  if  the  plague 
be  due  to  putrefaction  of  the  air,  then  wherever  car- 
rion is  lying,  and  in  all  pools,   marshes,   or  other 

*  This  last  sentence  was  added  in  1579.  The  reference  is  to  the 
edition  of  1572. 


282  Ambroise  Pare 


putrid  places,  the  plague  must  always  be  there,  be- 
cause the  air  is  disposed  to  putrefaction :  and  every 
sort  of  putrefaction,  once  inhaled,  must  beget  the 
plague :  which  is  against  experience,  as  we  see  in 
those  who  inhabit  and  frequent  putrid  places,  as 
fish-markets,  slaughter-houses,  cemeteries,  hospitals, 
sewers,  and  tan-yards ;  and  in  those  who  handle  and 
cart  manure  in  a  putrid  state,  and  so  forth.  Answer 
must  be  made  that  the  putrefaction  of  plague  is 
wholly  different  from  all  other  putrefactions;  for  it 
is  of  a  hidden  malignancy,  past  all  words,  which  we 
cannot  explain  any  more  than  the  lodestone  attract- 
ing iron,  or  than  drugs  withdrawing  certain  humours 
from  us  and  purging  us  of  them.  So  the  occult 
malignancy  of  this  putrefaction  of  plague  does  not 
belong  to  things  that  are  simply  corrupt :  yet 
these  things,  when  the  plague  is  about,  are  easily 
turned  to  a  like  malignancy  with  it :  so  that  all  boils, 
and  putrid  fevers,  and  other  diseases  that  come  of 
putrefaction,  are  apt  in  time  of  plague  to  acquire 
this  especial  and  most  mysterious  malignancy. 

Therefore,  when  the  times  are  thus  constituted 
we  must  avoid  all  infected  places,  and  all  association 
with  them  that  are  stricken,  lest  we  be  infected  by 
the  vapour  and  exhalation  of  the  corrupt  air.  But 
all  who  inhale  the  air  of  the  plague  do  not  of  neces- 
sity take  the  disease:  for  you  cannot  catch  it  unless 


Fare's  Account  of  the  Plague  283 


you  are  prepared  and  disposed  to  it;  as  every  day's 
experience  proves.  And  Galen  notes  the  same 
thing,  in  his  book  Oti  the  Differences  of  Fevers,  say- 
ing that  no  cause  can  produce  its  effect  except  the 
body  be  apt  and  prepared  for  it,  or  all  would  be  in- 
fected from  the  same  cause.  Nevertheless,  he  who 
constantly  frequents  places  and  persons  infected 
with  the  poison  may  acquire  this  disposition,  and 
may  become  susceptible  to  the  plague :  for  green 
wood  is  not  disposed  to  burn,  yet,  after  being  long 
in  the  fire,  it  burns.  So  I  advise  men  to  take  all 
care  of  themselves,  and  to  avoid  places  and  persons 
stricken  with  the  plague :  for  the  poison  got  by 
smelling  these  evil  vapours  is  wonderfully  swift,  and 
has  no  need  of  any  humour  to  help  it  to  enter  the 
body  and  act  as  I  have  already  said.  For  these 
vapours  being  subtle  are  easily  drawn  with  the  air 
into  the  lungs,  thence  into  the  heart  the  seat  of  life, 
then  they  pass  along  the  arteries,  and  so  are  diffused 
over  the  whole  body,  disordering  first  the  spirits, 
then  the  humours,  and  at  last  the  very  substance  of 
the  solid  parts."*^ 

*  In  the  edition  of  1568,  the  word  "  solides  "  was  left  out  :  this 

omission  was  noted  as  an  "erratum"   by  Pare,   in  the  following 

note  : 

Au  Lecteur. 

"  Amy  Lecteur,  k  la  page  16.  ligne  9.,  apr^s  ce  mot,  parties,  faut 

adjouster  ce  mot,  solides.     S'il  se  trouve  d'autres  fautes,  elles  sent 

ou  de  petite  consequence,  ou  aisees  a  un  chacun  de  corriger." 


284  Ambrolse  Par^ 


When  I  speak  of  plague  in  the  air,  I  would  not  be 
understood  to  mean  simple  elemental  air,  which  be- 
ing simple  never  becomes  corrupt,  but  by  addition 
and  admixture  of  corrupt  vapours  diffused  through 
it.  Now  the  air  immediately  round  us  is  necessary 
to  each  moment  of  our  lives,  and  we  cannot  live 
without  it:  for  it  brings  about  innumerable  changes 
in  us,  by  the  lungs  drawing  it  into  the  chest,  and  by 
its  transpiration  through  the  pores  and  invisible  out- 
lets all  over  the  body,  and  through  the  arteries  of  the 
skin  :  whereby  the  spirit  of  life  is  generated,  and  the 
natural  heat  of  the  body  is  kept  up.  Therefore,  if 
the  air  be  immoderately  hot,  cold,  moist,  or  dry,  it 
changes  and  subdues  the  temperature  of  the  body 
into  likeness  with  itself.  And  of  all  the  constitutions 
of  the  air,  that  is  most  dangerous  which  is  hot  and 
moist,  for  these  qualities  cause  putrefaction :  as  ex- 
perience proves  in  those  places  where  the  sea-wind 
from  the  East  exercises  its  tyranny,  where  fresh 
meat  goes  bad  and  tainted  in  less  than  half  an  hour. 
Also  we  see  how  heavy  rains  beget  an  abundance  of 
vapours,  and  these,  when  the  sun  cannot  break  them 
up  and  melt  them,  change  and  corrupt  the  air,  and 
dispose  it  for  the  plague.  But  here  we  must  note 
that  the  corruption  of  the  dead  bodies  of  men  is  more 
pernicious  to  men  than  that  of  other  animals:  so  is 
that  of  cattle  to  cattle,  of  horses  to  horses,  of  swine 


Pare  s  Account  of  the  Plague  285 


to  swine,  and  so  with  sheep  and  other  animals: 
which  comes  of  the  sympathy  and  concordance  be- 
tween them ;  as  we  see  in  one  family,  or  among  per- 
sons alike  in  their  temperaments,  if  one  catches  the 
plague,  it  generally  spreads  to  all  of  them.  All  the 
same,  there  are  cases  of  men  having  flayed  cattle 
and  other  beasts  dead  of  the  plague,  who  died  sud- 
denly, and  their  bodies  became  all  swollen. 

Thunder  and  lightning,  by  their  great  noise  and 
commotion,  so  violently  disturb  the  air,  that  they 
make  the  plague  worse.* 

And  to  come  to  an  end  of  the  manifold  effects  of 
the  air,  I  must  add  that  as  it  is  diverse  and  variable 
in  its  action  so  it  produces  a  variety  of  affections 
and  acts  in  several  ways,  even  on  the  spirits,  making 
them  gross  and  dull,  or  subtle  and  acute.  In  a  word, 
the  air  has  dominion  over  all  men  and  other  animals, 
and  over  plants,  trees,  and  shrubs. 

4.  Of  the  Duties  of  Magistrates  and  Pub- 
lic Officers,  who  Keep  Order  in 
Towns. 

The  magistrates  must  keep  clean  all  houses  and 

streets,  and  let  no  filth  or  ordure  lie  in  them,  and 

carry  all  dead  animals  and  other  rubbish  far  out  of 

the  town,  and  bury  them  deep :  they  must  keep  all 

*  This  sentence  was  added  in  1585. 


286  Ambroise  Pare 


rivers,  wells,  and  cisterns  free  from  impurities,  and 
must  expressly  forbid  the  sale  of  spoiled  grain, 
tainted  meat  in  the  markets,  and  stale,  unwhole- 
some fish.  They  must  close  the  public  hot  baths, 
because  on  leaving  them  the  muscles  and  the  general 
tone  of  the  body  are  relaxed,  and  the  pores  are  open, 
and  so  the  vapour  of  the  plague  can  readily  enter  the 
body  and  cause  death  at  once ;  there  are  many  cases 
of  this  kind.  They  must  catch  and  kill  the  dogs 
and  cats,  lest  they  carry  the  plague  from  one  house 
to  another:  for  these  animals  may  devour  the  re- 
mains or  the  excretions  of  persons  attacked  by  the 
plague,  and  so  take  the  plague  and  carry  it  else- 
where; but  the  animals  seldom  suffer  from  it,  be- 
cause their  temperament  is  not  disposed  that 
way. 

The  magistrates  must  have  all  sick  folk  attended 
by  physicians,  surgeons,  and  apothecaries,  good 
men,  of  experience:  and  must  know  them  that  are 
attacked,  and  must  isolate  them,  sending  them  to 
places  set  apart  for  their  treatment,  or  must  shut 
them  up  in  their  own  houses  (but  this  I  do  not 
approve,  and  would  rather  they  should  forbid  those 
that  are  healthy  to  hold  any  converse  with  them) 
and  must  send  men  to  dress  and  feed  them,  at  the 
expense  of  the  patients,  if  they  have  the  means,  but 
if  they  are  poor,  then  at  the  expense  of  the  parish. 


Fare's  Account  of  the  Plague  287 


Also  they  must  forbid  the  citizens  to  put  up  for  sale 
the  furniture  of  those  who  have  died  of  the  plague. 

They  must  close  the  gates  of  such  towns  as  are 
not  yet  attacked,  lest  the  plague  be  brought  by  trav- 
ellers from  some  infected  place :  for  as  one  diseased 
sheep  may  contaminate  a  whole  flock,  so  one  man 
with  the  plague  may  infect  a  whole  town. 

And  they  must  hang  a  cloth,  or  some  such  token, 
from  the  windows  of  houses  where  any  are  dead  of 
the  plague.  And  the  surgeons,  and  all  who  have 
to  do  with  the  patients,  must  carry  white  staves  in 
their  hands  when  they  go  through  the  town,  that 
men  may  keep  away  from  them. 

Also  the  magistrates  must  bury  all  bodies  at  once : 
for  in  one  hour  they  become  more  corrupt  and 
putrid  than  those  become  in  three  days  who  die  of 
something  other  than  the  plague :  and  putrid  vapours 
arise  from  them  in  a  very  fetid  exhalation,  worse, 
past  all  comparison,  than  in  life,  because  the  natural 
heat  is  gone  v/hich  restrained  and  tempered  the  cor- 
ruption :  indeed,  bodies  dead  of  the  plague  are  not 
devoured  by  any  animal,  even  the  crows  do  not 
touch  them,  and  if  they  ate  them  they  would  die  at 
once. 

And  since  fire,  of  all  things  that  can  purify  the 
air,  is  most  necessary  and  unlike  anything  else,  we 
must  here  imitate  Hippocrates,  who,  as  the  ancients 


288  Ambrolse  Pare 


have  told  us,  stopped  a  marvellous  great  plague  in 
the  city  of  Athens  by  making  them  burn  huge  fires 
at  night  in  the  houses  and  streets  of  the  city,  and 
all  round  it,  throwing  on  the  flames  strong-smelling 
things,  as  juniper,  pine,  broom  and  the  like,  which 
produced  a  quantity  of  aromatic  smoke,  and  so  the 
plague  ceased :  then  the  citizens  raised  a  gold  statue 
to  him  in  the  middle  of  the  square,  and  adored  him 
as  a  God,  and  saviour  of  the  country:  which  had 
never  before  been  done  for  any  man. 

And  Levinus  Levinius,  in  the  second  book  De 
Occultis  NaturcB  Miracidis,  chapter  lo,  says  that 
when  the  plague  was  at  Tournay  the  soldiers,  to 
prevent  it,  used  to  load  their  cannon  with  powder 
without  ball,  and  fire  them  every  night  and  at  day- 
break: and  by  this  explosion  and  strong-smelling 
smoke  the  contagion  of  the  air  was  amended  and  re- 
moved, and  the  town  was  made  free  of  plague. 

Finally,  to  perform  their  whole  duty  to  the  state, 
the  Magistrates  will  do  all  else  that  shall  be  for  the 
safety  of  the  city. 

There  is  one  thing  more :  they  must  keep  an  eye 
on  certain  thieves,  murderers,  and  poisoners,  worse 
than  inhuman,  who  grease  and  daub  the  walls  and 
doors  of  rich  houses  with  matter  discharged  from 
the  swellings  and  carbuncles,  and  other  excretions 
of  them  that  have  the  plague,  so  as  to  infect  the 


Fare's  Account  of  the  Plague  289 


houses,  and  then  break  into  them  and  sack  and  strip 
them,  and  even  strangle  the  poor  sufferers  in  their 
beds:  which  was  done  at  Lyon  in  the  year  1565. 
Oh  my  God,  what  exemplary  punishments  these 
gentlemen  deserve :  whom  I  leave  to  the  discretion 
of  the  magistrates,  and  the  arm  of  the  law. 

5.  How  TO  Proceed  to  the  Election  of 
Physicians,  Surgeons,  and  Apothe- 
caries, TO  Attend  them  that  Have 
THE  Plague. 

As  for  the  physicians,  surgeons,  and  apothecaries, 
the  magistrates  must  choose  good  men,  of  experi- 
ence, to  help  the  poor  folk.  Let  them  not  by 
sound  of  trumpet  make  a  proclamation — buying  bad 
wares  in  a  cheap  market — that  any  companion  bar- 
bers and  apothecaries,  who  are  willing  to  dress  them 
that  have  the  plague,  shall  in  return  receive  the 
Mastership.  Oh  my  God,  what  fine  Masters!  In- 
stead of  curing  their  patients,  they  more  often  flout 
Heaven  and  earth  with  their  inexperience,  for  they 
have  never  seen  or  known  a  case  of  the  disease : 
hence  they  will  be  a  hundred  times  more  formidable 
than  the  brigands  and  murderers  who  infest  our 
woods  and  highways,  whom  you  can  avoid,  and  take 
some  other  road  :  but  a  poor  wretch  with  the  plague 
must  go  and  look  for  his  surgeon,  and  must  hold  his 


290  Ambroise  Pare 


own  throat  to  the  murderer's  knife,  hoping  for  help 
from  the  very  man  who  takes  his  life. 

Again,  if  the  Magistrates  compel  and  force  ex- 
perienced physicians  and  surgeons  to  serve  them,  by 
false  promises  or  by  violence,  threatening  that  if 
they  do  not  serve  they  shall  be  driven  out  of  the 
town  for  ever,  I  leave  you  to  decide,  Gentlemen,  how 
the  poor  patients  can  be  treated  properly,  if  those 
who  are  set  to  attend  them  are  thus  employed  by 
force  and  violence :  then,  when  the  occasion  for 
their  services  is  past,  they  are  cheated  of  their 
wages,  and  there  the  poor  physicians,  surgeons, 
apothecaries,  and  barbers,  are  left,  white  staves  and 
all,  with  this  mark  branded  on  them,  that  they  were 
employed  to  dress  patients  with  the  plague :  and 
every  one  avoids  them  as  if  they  were  the  plague 
itself,  and  they  are  called  no  more  to  the  exercise  of 
their  art :  then  their  colleagues,  seeing  them  after- 
ward thus  begging  their  bread,  and  fearing  they 
themselves  will  fall,  sooner  or  later,  into  the  like 
disaster  of  poverty,  which  they  dread  a  hundred 
thousand  times  more  than  the  plague,  will  not  go 
near  a  case  of  it :  for  it  is  indeed  a  great  plague  to 
a  man,  not  to  have  money  for  the  needs  of  this 
poor  life. 

So  I  implore  the  Magistrates,  with  all  respect,  to 
choose,  as  I  have  said,  men  of  good  position  and  ex- 


Fare's  Account  of  the  Plague  291 


perience  to  help  them  that  have  the  plague :  and  to 
give  them  an  honest  pension,  not  only  during  the 
time  of  need,  but  for  their  whole  life.  Then  they 
will  not  want  any  trumpets  and  proclamations;  for 
the  men  will  come  forward  of  their  own  accord  to 
serve  the  magistrates  and  their  fellow-citizens. 

6.  Of  the  Duties  of  those  who  shall  be 
Chosen  to  Attend  Patients  with  the 
Plague. 

Above  all  things,  they  must  remember  that  they 
are  called  of  God  to  this  vocation  for  the  exercise  of 
surgery:  therefore  they  should  go  to  it  with  a  high 
courage  free  of  all  fear,  having  firm  faith  that  God 
both  gives  and  takes  away  our  lives  as  and  when  it 
pleases  Him :  but,  as  I  have  said  before,  they  must 
not  neglect  and  despise  preservative  remedies,  or  we 
should  be  plainly  guilty  of  ingratitude,  since  God 
has  given  them  to  us,  having  done  all  things  for  our 
good. 

Therefore  those  surgeons,  who  shall  be  called  to 
attend  patients  with  the  plague,  must  first  get 
purged  and  bled,  if  they  have  need  of  it,  to  make 
their  bodies  wholesome  and  proof  against  the  poison 
of  the  plague.  Next,  the  surgeon  must  have  two 
issues  made — unless  he  has  already  some  running 


292  Ambroise  Pare 


sore — one  on  the  right  arm  a  little  below  the  deltoid, 
the  other  three  fingers'  breadth  below  the  left  knee, 
on  the  outer  side :  for  truly  we  know  from  experi- 
ence that  they  who  have  such  open  sores  have  not 
been  subject  to  the  plague,  and  have  taken  no 
harm,  though  they  were  every  day  among  cases  of 
it. 

Also  they  must  wash  the  whole  of  their  bodies 
very  frequently  with  this  water,  which  has  great 
aromatic  virtue,  and  is  full  of  vaporous  and  subtle 
spirits,  and  wholly  opposed  to  the  poison : 

A  Preservative   Water. 

^r.    Aquae  rosarum,  aceti  rosati  aut  sam- 

bucini,  vini  albi  aut  malvatici        .  ana  |  vi. 

Rad.  enulae  campanae,  angelicse,  gen- 

tianae,  bistortae,  zedoariae      .         .  ana  |  iii. 

Baccarum  juniperi  et  hederae  .         .  ana  f  ii. 

Salviae,  rorismarini,  absinthii,  rutae  .  ana  TTj,  i. 

Corticis  citri    .....  §  ss, 

Theriacae,  mithridatii        .         .         .  ana  |  i. 

Conquassanda  conquassentur,  et  buUiant  lento 
igni,  et  serventur  ad  usum. 

They  must  wash  the  whole  body  with  a  sponge  in 
this  water,  making  it  just  warm.  And  it  is  a  good 
thing  to  wash  the  mouth  with  it,  and  draw  a  little 
of  it  up  the  nose,  and  put  a  few  drops  into  the  ears. 

Also  they  should  carry  and  wear  over  the  region 


Fare's  Account  of  the  Plague  293 


of  the  heart  a  sachet  or  epitheme,  Hke  those  that  I 
have  aheady  described  :  for  Jean  Baptiste  Theodose, 
in  the  second  of  his  Medical  Letters  written  to 
Athanase,  a  Florentine  physician,  says  it  is  useful 
to  wear  arsenic  or  some  other  poison  over  the  heart, 
to  accustom  the  heart  to  the  poison  of  the  plague 
and  to  fortify  it,  since  all  poisons  alike  seek  the 
heart.  But  as  to  this  you  will  note  what  I  have 
said  already. 

Their  clothes  shall  be  of  camlet.  Arras  serge, 
satin,  taffeta,  or  the  like.  If  they  cannot  afTord 
these,  they  must  have  morocco,  or  German  twill,  or 
some  other  fine  black  stuff:  not  cloth,  or  frieze,  or 
fur,  lest  it  harbour  the  poison,  and  they  carry  death 
to  them  that  are  healthy.  They  must  frequently 
change  their  clothes,  shirts,  and  vests,  if  they  have 
suf^cient  store  of  them,  and  must  perfume  them 
with  the  smoke  of  aromatic  herbs :  and  when  they 
come  to  their  patients,  they  must  be  careful  not  to 
inhale  their  breath,  or  the  smell  of  their  excretions, 
also  not  to  use  their  clothes  or  bed-clothes,  and  not 
to  eat  and  drink  with  them,  or  partake  of  anything 
that  they  have  tasted. 

Moreover,  they  must  breakfast  early  in  the 
morning:  and  if  they  hate  breakfast,  as  some  men 
do,  they  may  instead  of  it  take  this  or  that  preserva- 
tive drug  which  I   have   already  mentioned :    and 


294  Ambroise  Pare 


when  they  come  near  the  patient,  they  must  keep 
in  their  mouths  a  clove,  or  a  morsel  of  canella  or 
angelica-root,  or  a  juniper  berry,  or  some  such  pre- 
ventive to  occupy  and  fill  the  void  interstitial  spaces, 
and  so  the  vapour  of  the  plague  will  find  no  lodg- 
ment in  them. 

I  will  tell  here,  as  an  example  of  the  danger  of 
frequent  contact  with  infected  persons,  what  once 
happened  to  me,  going  to  dress  a  man  with  the 
plague,  who  had  a  bubo  and  two  great  carbuncles : 
when  I  got  there,  I  raised  the  sheet  and  the  cover- 
let off  him,  and  was  overcome  by  the  extreme  fcetor 
from  his  body  and  from  his  sores,  and  fell  down  at 
once  like  a  dead  man,  suddenly,  as  do  those  who 
faint,  from  want  of  action  of  the  heart :  but  I  had  no 
pain,  and  no  trouble  at  the  heart,  which  shows  plainly 
that  the  animal  faculty  alone  was  injured  :  then  I  got 
up  at  once,  and  it  felt  as  if  the  house  were  turning  up- 
side down,  and  I  had  to  hold  on  to  one  of  the  posts 
of  the  patient's  bed,  or  I  should  have  fallen  again. 
And  having  soon  recovered  animation,  I  sneezed  ten 
or  twelve  times,  with  such  violence  that  my  nose 
bled :  and  this,  in  my  humble  opinion,  was  why  the 
vapour  of  the  plague  made  no  impression  on  me. 
For  I  leave  the  reader  to  philosophize  whether  death 
would  not  have  followed,  but  for  the  ef^cacy  of  the 
expulsive  virtue  of  my  brain  in  sneezing:    seeing 


Fare's  Account  of  the  Plague  295 


that  all  my  senses,  and  even  the  animal  faculty, 
suddenly  failed  me :  which  are  the  instruments  of 
the  soul. 

So  I  advise  both  physicians  and  surgeons,  espe- 
cially those  who  have  much  to  do  with  the  victims 
of  this  pernicious  disease,  to  be  careful  not  to  inhale 
the  breath  of  their  patients  or  the  vapours  of  their 
excretions,  whether  gross  or  liquid  or  in  vapour ;  and 
to  take  breakfast  every  morning,  or  some  antidote, 
before  they  go  to  see  them,  that  they  may  have  the 
more  protection  against  the  poison.  Finally,  let 
them  study  what  things  are  known  to  be  profitable, 
what  hurtful,  in  this  disease  of  the  plague,  that  they 
may  follow  these,  or  avoid  those,  according  to  their 
needs :  but  remembering  that  their  preservation  lies 
more  in  the  providence  of  God  than  in  the  wisdom 
of  the  physican  or  the  surgeon. 

7.    A  Discourse  on  the  Troubles  Brought 
UPON  Men  by  the  Plague. 

Touching  the  causes  of  the  plague,  I  have  already 
urged  that  as  it  is  one  of  the  scourges  of  the  wrath  of 
God,  so  we  can  only  fall  into  this  utmost  extremity 
of  evil  when  the  enormity  of  our  sins  has  provoked 
His  goodness  to  take  away  His  favourable  hand 
from  us,  and  to  inflict  on  us  this  grievous  wound. 


296  Ambroise  Pard 


Therefore  it  will  be  enough,  for  the  end  of  my 
book,  if  I  recount  the  troubles,  or  rather  the  terrible 
calamities,  which  come  upon  human  society  from 
this  perilous  disease:  that  by  the  methods  divinely 
ordained  for  our  protection  against  it  we  may  from 
the  very  greatness  of  the  evil  be  the  more  eager  to 
seek  and  use  such  remedies  as  may  save  us. 

Consider  then :  so  soon  as  a  country  is  attacked 
by  the  plague,  all  commerce  and  traiific,  which  men 
must  have  to  help  one  another,  are  interrupted  and 
abandoned  :  for  none  will  dare  bring  anything  to  an 
infected  place,  for  fear  of  death.  So  victuals  are 
soon  very  dear,  and  at  last  fail  altogether,  especially 
in  great  cities  where  multitudes  live  from  hand  to 
mouth  without  provision  for  to-morrow:  for  those 
who  go  to  buy  food  at  this  or  that  place  are  not 
allowed  inside  the  town  or  village,  and  often  those 
within  the  walls  drive  them  away  with  diverse 
weapons,  arquebuses,  cross-bows,  and  stones :  some- 
times they  are  even  killed  or  massacred  brutally, 
instead  of  the  help  that  men  ought  to  give  them 
in  their  distress.  So  others  will  not  go  after  them, 
and  they  who  would  save  their  own  town  from  want 
and  famine  must  starve  along  with  the  rest.  Often 
children  bury  their  fathers  and  mothers,  parents 
their  children,  husbands  their  wives,  and  wives  their 
husbands  (which  tears  their  hearts  out)  because  no 


Park's  Account  of  the  Plague         297 


one  else  will  do  it.  Often  bodies  are  left  unburied, 
and  emit  putrid  vapours  which  make  the  plague 
worse.*  Again,  the  wealthier  folk,  even  the  magis- 
trates, and  others  who  have  the  management  of 
public  affairs,  are  mostly  among  the  first  to  depart 
and  go  elsewhere,  so  that  justice  is  no  longer  admin- 
istered, for  there  is  no  man  from  whom  to  seek  it : 
and  then  everything  is  in  disorder,  which  is  one  of 
the  greatest  evils  that  could  happen  to  a  state,  to 
be  without  justice:  and  villains  bring  yet  another 
plague  on  the  town,  breaking  into  the  houses,  rob- 
bing and  stripping  them  to  their  hearts'  content 
without  punishment,  and  often  cutting  the  throats 
of  the  patients,  or  even  of  them  that  are  not  ill,  lest 
discovery  and  arrest  overtake  them. 

If  any  man  wants  recent  instances,  he  can  get 
them  from  the  inhabitants  of  Lyon,  when  the  King 
went  there. t  A  like  thing  happened  here  in  Paris: 
there  was  a  gang  of  men  who  all  had  a  grudge 
against  one  poor  fellow :  they  got  some  villains  to 
help  them,  and  spread  a  report  that  he  had  the 
plague,  though  he  was  perfectly  well :  and  on  the 
day  when  he  must  be  in  the  streets  about  his  busi- 
ness— some  affair  that  required  him  to  be  there — 
they  had  him  seized  and  carried  off  to  the  hospital, 

*  These  two  sentences  were  added  in  1585. 
f  1565.     A.  P. 


298  Ambroise  Pare 


with  the  help  of  these  blackguards,  he  making  the 
best  fight  that  he  could,  one  against  all  of  them : 
and  when  he  would  call  on  the  people  to  pity  and 
help  him,  these  murderous  thieves  prevented  him, 
and  drowned  his  voice  by  shouting  louder  than  he 
could,  or  gave  folk  to  understand  that  the  disease 
had  made  him  mad  and  possessed  by  a  devil :  then 
everybody  ran  away,  and  they  managed  to  drag  him 
to  the  hospital,  and  had  him  bound  and  put  to  bed 
with  them  that  had  the  plague.  And  in  a  few 
days  he  died,  as  much  from  anguish  of  mind  as 
from  infection,  knowing  that  his  death,  while  he  yet 
lived,  had  been  bought  and  sold  for  good  ready 
money. 

Nor  need  I  here  describe  what  we  all  know  only 
too  well :  how  the  deserted  towns  become  like  fields, 
and  you  see  grass  growing  in  the  streets,  husband- 
men leaving  their  cottages  and  fruit-trees,  land  un- 
tilled,  flocks  lost  and  scattered  far  and  wide,  and 
men,  who  chance  to  meet,  running  away  from  each 
other;  a  sure  sign  of  the  heavy  hand  of  God.  I  will 
only  add  that  the  misery  of  a  man  in  time  of  plague 
is  so  extreme,  that  at  once,  when  he  is  but  suspected 
of  it,  his  home,  which  was  his  chief  safety  and  free- 
dom, is  his  cruel  prison :  for  they  shut  him  up  in  it, 
that  he  cannot  get  forth,  and  none  are  allowed  to 
enter  and  help  him.     And  if  one  dies  in  a  family 


Fare's  Account  of  the  Plague  299 


thus  kept  under  lock  and  key,  the  rest  of  them,  it 
may  be  for  a  long  time,  have  to  face  the  fearful  sight 
of  the  body  full  of  worms  and  corruption,  and  the 
fcetid  stench  of  it,  which  increases  the  poison  and 
infection  of  the  air,  till  the  plague  is  twice  as  bad  as 
it  was,  and  often  kills  everybody  in  the  house.  Or 
if  a  man  flees  into  the  country,  the  same  fear  and 
horror  are  there,  in  every  one  who  sees  him,  all  the 
more  because  he  is  less  known  and  cared  for  there. 
The  country  towns,  villages,  and  hamlets  are  all 
shut  up  close,  even  their  own  houses  are  shut  against 
the  masters  of  them,  so  that  they  must  camp  out  in 
the  fields  as  best  they  can,  away  from  all  human 
intercourse  and  acquaintance:  which  happened  at 
Lyon,  on  the  Rhone,  where  those  patients  who 
camped  out  in  the  open  country  were  overpowered 
by  the  heat  of  the  day,  and  at  night  the  cold 
gnawed  upon  them,  and  brought  with  it  other  fatal 
diseases.  And  what  is  worse,  in  these  field-huts 
there  was  that  sight  of  the  father  and  the  mother 
grievously  ill,  not  able  to  help  their  child,  and  they 
saw  it  smothered  and  bitten  by  wasps,  and  the 
mother  to  save  it  got  up  and  then  fell  dead  between 
her  child  and  her  husband.  Again,  he  who  has  vas- 
sals, serfs,  or  servants,  is  deserted  by  them :  they 
turn  their  backs,  and  none  dare  go  to  him  :  even  the 
father  abandons  his  child,  and  the  child  his  father : 


300  Ambrolse  Pare 


the  husband  his  wife,  and  the  wife  her  husband  :  the 
brother  his  sister,  and  the  sister  her  brother:  and 
those  whom  you  think  your  nearest  and  truest 
friends  abandon  you  now  in  the  horror  and  peril  of 
this  disease.  And  if  any  man,  out  of  pity  and 
Christian  charity,  or  from  kinship,  will  help  and 
visit  the  sick  man,  nor  parent  nor  friend  will  after- 
ward talk  with  him  or  come  near  him.  And  Lyon 
is  witness  that  this  is  true :  for  if  the  physicians, 
surgeons,  and  barbers,  appointed  to  dre<is  the  pa- 
tients, were  but  seen  in  the  streets,  everybody  ran 
after  them  throwing  stones  to  kill  them  like  mad 
dogs,  bidding  them  go  by  night  only,  lest  they 
should  infect  them  that  were  healthy. 

How  many  poor  women,  great  with  child,  have 
been  deserted  and  left  to  travail  all  alone,  on  mere 
suspicion,  though  they  had  no  trace  of  the  plague 
about  them — for  every  sort  of  illness,  in  time  of 
plague,  is  feared — and  so  the  mother  and  the  child 
have  died  together.  I  found  on  the  breasts  of  a 
woman,  dead  of  the  plague,  her  baby  still  sucking 
the  deadly  poison  that  was  soon  to  kill  it  like  its 
mother.  And  if  a  nurse  dies,  though  it  were  not  of 
the  plague,  no  other  nurse  will  be  found  for  the 
child,  for  they  all  think  it  may  have  been  the 
plague :  such  fear  and  panic  come  of  it,  that  a  man 
is  no  sooner  stricken  than  all  help  is  gone  and  he 


Pares  Account  of  the  Plague  301 


must  just  await  a  painful  death.  Out  of  an  infinite 
number  of  such  cases  as  we  often  see,  take  that 
story  *  of  the  woman  whose  husband  and  two  of  her 
children  died,  and  she  found  she  too  had  the  plague, 
and  began  to  put  herself  into  her  shroud,  and  was 
found  half  shrouded,  and  the  needle  and  thread  still 
in  her  hands.  In  another  case,  a  strong  hearty  man 
was  seized,  and  went  to  the  graveyard,  and  had  his 
grave  dug  in  his  own  presence,  and  before  it  was 
done  he  died  on  the  edge  of  it. 

Others,  when  the  plague  fell  on  them,  were  so 
afraid  to  die  that  they  applied  red-hot  irons  to  the 
swelling,  burning  their  own  flesh,  if  by  any  means 
they  might  escape :  others,  in  hope  of  cure,  tore  it 
out  with  pincers.  Some  in  the  heat  and  phrenzy  of 
the  disease  have  thrown  themselves  into  the  fire, 
others  into  wells,  others  into  rivers :  men  have 
hurled  themselves  out  of  windows,  or  have  dashed 
their  heads  against  the  wall  till  their  brains  came 
out,  as  I  have  seen :  others  have  put  an  end  to 
themselves  with  a  dagger  or  a  knife. 

The  Latin  poet  Lucretius  noted  that  the  plague 
once  raged  so  furiously  in  Athens  that  many,  over- 
powered by  the  vehemence  of  it,  threw  themselves 
into  the  water.  And  they  say  that  the  plague, 
about  fourscore  years  ago,  was  so  fierce  all  round 
*  Au  livre  des  Histoires  prodigieuses.     A.  P. 


302  Ambroise  Pare 


Lyon  that  many  (women  more  than  men),  though 
they  had  no  visible  mark  of  the  disease  on  them, 
threw  themselves  into  the  wells,  overwhelmed  by 
the  phrenzy  of  it.* 

Thus  I  have  heard  that  a  priest  of  Sainct  Eustache 
here  in  Paris,  a  short  time  ago,  lying  ill  of  the 
plague  at  the  Hostel  Dieu,  went  mad  and  got  out 
of  bed,  took  a  dagger,  and  stabbed  a  number  of 
poor  patients  in  their  beds,  and  killed  three  of 
them  :  and  if  the  surgeon  of  the  hospital  had  not  seen 
and  held  him — who  in  the  struggle  got  stabbed  in 
the  bowels  and  nearly  died  of  it — he  would  have 
killed  all  whom  he  found :  but  as  soon  as  he  was 
controlled,  and  the  phrenzy  was  spent,  he  yielded 
up  the  ghost. 

Another  horrible  case  happened  at  Lyon,  Rue 
Merciere,  where  a  surgeon  named  Amy  Baston  be- 
ing dead  of  the  plague  his  wife  was  taken  with  it  six 
days  later,  and  went  from  apathy  to  phrenzy,  and 
appeared  at  the  window  brandishing  a  little  child  in 
her  arms :  the  neighbours  all  shouted  to  her  that  she 
should  do  the  child  no  harm,  but  she  gave  no  heed 
to  them,  and  then  and  there  threw  him  into  the 
street,  and  herself  after  him :  so  mother  and  child 
died  together. 

There   is   an   infinite  number  of   like   instances, 

*  This  paragraph  was  added  in  1579. 


Fare's  Account  of  the  Plague  303 


enough  for  me  to  be  telling  them  for  ever:  and  the 
root  of  the  whole  evil  is  that  none  dare  hold  con- 
verse with  the  patients  or  draw  near  to  help  them. 
There  is  no  disease  like  it  for  this :  not  even  leprosy, 
for  men  will  help  lepers:  but  the  plague  cuts  a  man 
off  from  parents,  from  friends,  even  from  his  own 
home,  as  I  have  said :  which  is  the  less  strange,  see- 
ing that  human  charity  to-day  has  waxed  so  cold  that 
men  who  are  free  to  do  as  they  like,  with  gold  and 
silver  to  buy  all  they  fancy,  yet  in  time  of  plague 
can  get  no  help  from  anywhere. 

Nor  can  I  stop  here  v/ithout  quoting  good  old 
Guidon,*  how  in  the  year  1348  came  a  time  of 
death,  when  the  plague's  victims  died  in  three  days, 
or  five  at  most :  so  contagious  that  one  caught  it 
from  another  not  only  by  conversing  with  him  but 
from  just  setting  eyes  on  him:  men  died  without 
attendants,  and  were  buried  without  priests,  and 
each  day  so  many  that  there  were  not  enough  to 
bury  them,  and  they  had  to  make  great  pits  in  the 
graveyards,  and  throw  them  in  pell-mell,  some  dead, 
some  still  in  agony :  the  father  deserted  his  child, 
the  child  his  father,  the  wife  her  husband,  the  hus- 
band his  wife,  as  I  have  said  before :  all  charity  was 
dead,  all  hope  gone.  This  cursed  pestilence  was 
almost  universal,  and  spared  scarce  one  in  four.  It 
*  This  extract  from  Guy  de  Chauliac  was  added  in  1575. 


304  Ambroise  Pare 


brought  great  disgrace  and  small  profit  to  the  phy- 
sicians and  surgeons,  for  they  dared  not  visit  the 
sick  for  fear  of  infection :  and  if  they  had,  yet  all 
their  remedies  profited  nothing:  for  this  plague 
never  struck  without  killing.  In  some  parts  of  the 
country,  men  thought  the  Jews  had  poisoned  every- 
thing, and  ran  them  down  and  made  an  end  of 
them :  others  said  the  Beggars  had  done  it,  and 
drove  them  out  of  the  land :  others  suspected  the 
Seigneurs,  who  therefore  dared  not  be  seen  in  the 
streets.  And  at  last  the  gates  of  the  towns  were 
guarded,  and  no  man  was  admitted  save  those  who 
were  well  known.  And  if  any  one  kept  powders  or 
ointments  about  him,  they  took  these  to  be  poisons, 
and  made  him  swallow  them.  This  plague  lasted 
for  seven  months  without  interruption.  There  you 
have  old  Guidon's  account  of  it:  surely  a  most 
wonderful  story  of  the  wrath  of  God. 


INDEX. 


Abbeville,  91 

Albret,  Jeanne  d',  1 54 

Alva,  64,  147 

Amboise,  peace  of,  146 

America,  72 

Amiens,  95,  153 

Angers,  13 

Annebaut,  M.  d',  36,  121 

Antwerp,  126 

Anville,  M.  d',  59 

"  Apostles,"  the  Emperor's,  72 

Arabians,  the,  2 

Aristotle,  279 

Armada,  the,  5,  224 

Arnoullet,  Olive,  164 

Ascot,  M.  le  Due  d',  105,  156 

Astrologers,  the,  235 

Athanase,  293 

Aufimon,  gi 

Aumalle,  M.  le  Due  d',  47,  133 

Auret,  M.  le  Marquis d',  106,  156 

Avignon,  148 


B 


Barber-Surgeons,  the,  23,  170 
Barricades,  the,  223 
Basel,  4 

Bassompierre,  M.  de,  105,  156 
Baston,  Maitre,  302 
Bauge,  M.  de,  59,  88 
Bayard,  5 
Bayonne,  lOi,  147 


Beggars,  the,  215,  262,  304 
Benzo  of  Milan,  72 
Biarritz,  149 
Biron,  M.  de,  59 
Bisseaux,  Mme.  de,  255 
Bois-Dauphin,  M.  de,  93 
Boisy,  M.  de,  49 
Bonnivet,  59 
Bons-hommes,  246 
Bouchet,  M.  de,  86 
Bouillon,  M.  de,  74,  80 
Boulogne,  45 

Bourdillon,  M.  de,  59,  140 
Bourgeuil,  104 
Bourlon,  Jacques,  171 
Bourg-Hersent,  11 
Brandebourg,  59 
Brantome,  I'Abbe,  189,  197 
Bressure,  Mile,  de,  90 
Brissac,  M.  de,  125,  138 
Brittany,  37,  122 
Brussels,  116 
Bussy,  Amboise  de,  185 


Calais,  5,  139 
Calvin,  9 

Canappe,  M.  de,  47 
Carloix,  182 
Carouge,  59 
Castellan,  102,  151 
Cateau-Cambresis,  peace  of,  141 
Celsus,  230 

Cemetery  of  the  Holy  Innocents, 
71 


305 


3o6 


Ind 


ex 


Cenis,  Mont,  120 

Cerisoles,  battle  of,  123 

Chalons,  125 

Champigny,  263 

Chapelain,  102,  151,  182,  211 

Chapelle  aux  Ursins,  M.  dela,  59 

Charles  the  Bold,  22 

Charles  IX.,  his  friendship  for 

Ambroise  Pare,   185-189;    his 

death,  196 
Charron,  Mme.  la  Marquise  de, 

Chartel,  Captain,  47 

Chartres,  153 

Chateau  d'Auret,  106 

Chateau  Beaumont,  115 

Chateau  le  Comte,  53 

Chateau  Gaillard,  99 

Chateau  de  la  Motte  au  Bois,  88 

Chateau  de  Pene,  2S1 

Chauliac,  Guy  de,  2.  15,  303 

Cheval,  Maitre,  263 

Clement  VII.,  187 

Clement.  Jacques,  199 

Cleret,  Etienne,  161 

Cointeret,  Maitre,  100,  147 

CoLiGNY,  at  Boulogne,  126  ;  at 
Dreux,  145  ;  wounded  at  Mont- 
contour,  154;  death,  188 

Colot,  Laurence,  13 

Comperat  of  Carcasonne,  12 

CoNDfi,  134,  145  ;  his  going  to 
mass,  254  ;  his  death,  154 

Confraternity  of  S.  Cosmo,  166- 

175 

Constable,  THE(Anne  de  Mont- 
morency), 121  ;  at  Danvilliers, 
49  ;  at  Metz,  55  ;  death,  146 

Cornaton,  188 

Crespy,  peace  of,  141 

Culan,  M.  le  Baron  de,  80 

D 

Daigne,  apothecary,  56 
Danvilliers,  49,  129 
D'Arcques,  216 
Dativo,  pedagogue,  38 
De  la  Fontaine,  Guy,  210 


De  la  Rue,  Pierre,  176,  255 

De  la  Valletta,  216 

De  Paradis,  Louis,  212 

D'Espernon,  216,  221 

Des  Ursins,  M.  Christophe,  208 

Devils,  Pare's  belief  in,  238 

Diane  de  Poitiers,  129,  159 

Dinant,  137 

Doublet,  the  empiric,  262 

Dourlan,  95,  140 

Drouet,  Luys,  162 

Dubois,  Maitre,  103,  155 

Dubois  (Sylvius),  18,  158 

Dupont,  M.,  74,  80 

Duprat,  Antoine,  161 

Dupuys,  Jacques,  205 

E 

Elizabeth,  141,  143,  220 
Empedocles,  281 
Emperor,  the,  122,  128 
Enghien,  M.  le  Due  d',  55,  139 
English,  the,  5,  37,  loi 
Erasmus,  9 

Estampes,  M.  le  Due  d',  90 
Estampes,  Mme.  la  Duchesse  d', 

37,  [21,  249 
Estoile,  Pierre  de  1',  7,  215,  etc. 
Estres,  M.  d',  59,  91 
Eu,  M.  le  Comte  d',  loo,  147 


Faculty,  the,  169,  200-208 
Falcon,  Jehan,  16 
Farges,  de,  150 
Ferrier,  Dr.,  199 
Flesselles,  Dr.,  24,  263 
Flodden  Field,  5 
Fontaine,  M.  de,  102 
Fontainebleau,  128,  148 
Franciscans,  the,  132 
Frangois  I.,  21,  30 
Franc^ois    II.,    marriage    with 
Mar}'  Stuart,  141  ;  death,  183 


Galen,  88,  283 
Gaultier,  Claude,  165 


Index 


307 


Germany,  46 

Gilbert,  Maitre,  97 

Godlee,  Mr.,  Preface 

Goguier,  M.  de,  55,  gi,  134 

Gouast,  Captain,  95 

Gourmelen,  Etienne,  25,  201 

Grangier,  M. ,  213 

Gueau,  178 

Guillenieau,  Jacques,  204 

Guise,  Charles  de,  Cardinal  de 
Lorraine,  184 

Guise,  FRANgois,  Due  de,  126  ; 
at  Boulogne,  46  ;  at  Danvilliers, 
49  ;  at  Metz,  55  ;  death,  146 

Guise,  Henri,  Due  de,  224 

Guise,  Louis  de.  Cardinal  de  Lor- 
raine, 224 

Guitel,  224,  256 

Guyard,  213 

H 

Haultin,  Maitre,  194 

Havre,  lOi 

Hedelin,  Claude,  195 

Henri  II.,  marriage  with  Cath- 
erine de  Medicis,  118  ;  at  Lan- 
drecies,  44  ;  at  Danvilliers,  49  ; 
at  Aufimon,  91  ;  at  Bourges, 
96;  death,  181 

Henri  III.,  152 ;  with  Pare, 
198;  later  years.  218-225; 
death,  226 

Henri  IV.,  at  La  Rochelle,  194  ; 
marriage  with  Marguerite  de 
Valois,  154;  Ivry,  225;  siege 
of  Paris,  226 

Hery,  Theodoric  d',  24,  243 

Hesdin,  74-91,  136 

Hippocrates,  79,  239,  277,  287 

Hollier,  Dr.,  263 

Horace,  M.  le  Due,  59,  78,  136 

Hotel  Dieu,  18,  36 

Hubert,  Maitre,  100,  147,  246 

Hungary,  Queen  of,  go,  137 

Hunter,  John,  258 


"  Indians,"  the,  72 
Ivry,  battle  of,  7,  226 


J 

Jarnac,  battle  of,  154 
Jerusalem,  69,  120,  218 
Joyeuse,  222 

K 

King's  Evil,  the,  240 
Knox,  9 


La  F^re,  92,  140 

Landrecies,  44,  124 

Landreneau,  44,  124 

Landry,  Saint,  18 

La  Trousse,  M.  de,  86 

Laval,  II 

Lavernot,  Nicole,  42,  125 

L'Ecolier,  171 

Le  Dain,  Ollivier,  168 

Lefevre,  99,  146 

Le  Grand,  Dr,,  36,  igg 

Le  Paulmier,  Julien,  167 

Le  Paulmier,   Dr.,    Preface,    24, 

118,  201 
Le  Rat,  Captain,  31 
Le  Roy,  Jehan,  168 
Levoix,  216 
Ligature,  the,  241 
Lincester,  225 
Longjumeau,  peace  of,  153 
Lopez  the  Spaniard,  72 
Lorraine,  M.  le  Cardinal  de,  g2, 

140 
Louis,  Maitre,  51 
Louis,  Saint,  21,  167 
Louis  XII.,  5 
Loyola,  Ignatius,  g 
Lude,  M.  le  Comte  de,  sg 
Luther,  4 
Luzarches,  172 
Lyon,  252,  2gg 
Lyon,  the  Archbishop  of,  8,  227 

M 

Magnane,  M.  de,  58 
Maison  de  la  Vache,  176 
Maison  des  Trois  Maures,  178 


;o8 


Index 


Malazieu,  Andre,  201 

Malgaigne,  Preface,  i,  14,  etc. 

Malines,  116 

Mansfeld,  M.  le  Comte  de,  104, 
156 

Marguerite  de  Valois,  154 

Marienbourg,  137 

Marolles,  37,  124 

Marseilles,  119 

Martial,  M,,  Preface 

Martigues,  M.  de,  78-86,  135 

Martin,  Gaspard,  12 

Mary  of  England,  137-139 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  141,  219 

Maurevel,   188 

Mazelin,  Antoine,  176 

Mazelin,  Jehan,  161 

Mazelin,  Jehanne,  marriage 
with  Ambroise,  160 ;  death,  191 

Mazelin,  Madelaine,  161 

Mazille,  Dr.,  197,  257 

Mercier,  pedagogue,  223,  255 

Merlin,  188 

Metz,  55,  129 

Meudon,  178 

Mezieres,  Dr.  de  la,  144 

Moncontour,  battle  of,  103,  154 

Mons,  114 

Montejan,  Colonel,  30,  36,  121 

Montgomery,  Gabriel  de,  181 

Montluc,  138 

Montmorency,  Anne  de  (see  Con- 
stable) 

Montmorency,  Fran9ois  de,  104, 
136 

Montmorency,  Henri  de,  145 

Montmorency,  Mme.  de,  92,  103 

Montpellier,  15,  150 

Montpensier,  M.  le  Due  de,  135 

N 

Nemours,  M.  le  Due  de,  194, 
207 

Nestor,  Maitre,  246 
Nevers,  M.  le  Due  de,  237 
Nice,  122 
Nicot,  Jelian,  249 
Nurse,  the  King's,  146,  197,  233, 
257 


O 

Orbry,  M.  Christofle,  253 
Orleans,  146,  152 


Padua,  279 

Palissy,  Bernard,  9 

Paracelsus,  3 

Pare,  Ambroise,  boyhood,  11- 
14;  apprenticeship,  14-17;  at 
the  Hotel  Dieu,  18-21  ;  made 
barber-surgeon,  23  ;  with  the 
army,  21-117  ;  marriage  with 
Jehanne  Mazelin,  160 ;  made 
surgeon,  172 ;  property  in 
Paris,  175  ;  the  St.  Bartholo- 
mew's Massacre,  188  ;  mar- 
riage with  Jacqueline  Rousse- 
let,  192 ;  warfare  with  the 
Faculty,  200-205  >  works,  229- 
247  ;  children  and  grandchil- 
dren, 164,  192  ;  meeting  with 
the  Archbishop  of  Lyon,  g, 
227  ;  death,  9,  228 

Pare,  Ambroise  (A.  P.'s  son), 
194 

Pare,  Anne  (A.  P.'s  daughter), 
194 

Pare,  Bertrand  (A.  P.'s  nephew), 
12,  165 

Pare,  Catherine  (A.  P.'s  sister), 
II 

Pare,  Catherine  (A.  P.'s  daugh- 
ter, Mme.  Rousselet),  164,  192 

Pare,  Catherine  (A.  P.'s  daugh- 
ter, Mme.  Hedelin),  195 

Pare,  Jehan,  of  Vitry  (A.  P.'s 
brother),  11,  262 

Pare,  Jehan,  of  Paris  (A.  P.'s 
brother),  12 

Pare,  Jehanne  (A.  P.'s  niece, 
Mme.  Viart),  12,  165,  194 

Pare,  Marie  (A.  P.'s  daughter), 

195 
Paris,  17,  157,  218,  227,  etc. 
Parliament,  the,  201 
Pater,  Mr.,  Preface,  153 
Paul  IV.,  138 


Index 


309 


Perier,  Francois,  178 

Perpignan,  41,  124 

Philip  of  Spain,  137,  143 

Piccart,  Nicolas,  261 

Pienne,  M.  de,  59 

Pigray,  Maitre,  22,  100,  147 

Pirates,  the,  122 

Pitard,  Jehan,  167 

Pius  v.,  154 

Plague,  the,  265 

Plessis-les-Tours,  103,  155 

Poltrot,  Jehan,  146 

Portail,  Antoine,  96,  103,  140 

Pr^-aux-Clercs,  160,  219 


Queen-Mother,  The,  marriage 
with  Henri  II.,  118  ;  at  Rouen, 
98,  144;  at  Dreux,  146;  at 
Bayonne,  102  ;  at  Montcon- 
tour,  103 ;  with  Pare,  184 ; 
death,  225 

Quelus,  death  of,  216 

R 

Rabelais,  176 

Randan,  M.  de,  59 

Raphael,  5 

Recrod,  Captain,  47 

Renaudie,  Sieur  de  la,  142 

Renty,  137 

Rheims,  55,  133,  156 

Ringrave,  Captain,  47,  105 

Riviere,  Etienne  de  la,  162,  242 

Rochefoucaut,  M.  de,  59 

Rohan,    M.   le  Vicomte  de,  37, 

134 
Roche-sur-Yon,  M.  le  Prince  de 

la,  55,  98,  134 
Rostaing  de  Binosc,  133 
Rouen,  97, 143 
Rousselet,  Francois,  193 
Rousselet,  Jacqueline,  192 
Roze,  M,  de,  80 


St.    Andre-des-Arcs,    160,     196, 

251-256 
St.  Andre,  M.  de,  47,  56,  134 
St.  Arnoul,  Abbey  of,  71 
St.  Aubin,  Captain,  95 
St.  Denis,  battle  of,  ro2,  151 
St.  Germain,  peace  of,  154 
St.  Jehan  en  Dauphine,  M.  de, 

59 
St.  Michel  Archange,  Place,  159 
St.  Quentin,  battle  of,  92,  138 
St.  Yrieux,  battle  of,  154 
Sarlabous,  Captain,  lOI 
Sedan,  49 
Servetus,  9 
Sforza  of  Milan,  119 
Siret,  Maitre,  103 
Spaniards,  the,  43,  62,  78,  etc. 
Spurs,  battle  of  the,  6 
Suleiman,  6,  118 
Suze,  pass  of,  31,  120 
Sylvius,  18,  158 

T 

Theodose,  293 
Therouenne,  74,  88,  135 
Thionville,  72,  130 
Toul,  47,  129 
Tournahan,  54 
Turin,  30,  119 

V 

Vaucelles,  treaty  of,  138 
Vaudeville,  M.  de,  86 
Verdun,  56,  132 
Vesalius,  9,  18,  182 
Vialot,  Maitre,  14 
Vielleville,  M.  de,  50,  135 
Vigo,  John  de,  33 
Villars,  M.  de,  74,  80 
Villeneuve,  Fran9ois  de,  163 

W 

William  of  Orange,  141 
Wrestlers,  the,  38 


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